Three Makes a Family
by BrittanaBandit
Summary: Tamsin and Bo have a baby - series of linear stories! Please review! Possibly M in future. Valkubus, Valkubaby, Multishot. FLUFF.
1. Ayla Sif Dennis

"Tamsin - wake up." I whispered again - nervously.

I shoved her pale arm as she groaned at the disruption to her sleep. "Tamsin, seriously! Wake the fuck up, like now." I half growled, my heart feeling like it was about to jump out of my chest with each beat as I shook her long, slim sleeping frame.

"I know my chi is like Scooby snacks or whatever for you and the baby, but seriously Bo? 1am?" she sighed, rubbing her eyes as she finally rolled over to look at me. "Oh shit-" she exclaimed as soon as she saw the frightened look plastered on my face. "Don't tell me it's happening already?" she nervously exclaimed, sitting up from the bed as she waited for me to reply.

"Okay, it's not happening already." I said unconvincingly, squinting my eyes and inhaling a sharp breath as another ripple of pain took control of my body. "How was that?" I asked, curious about my own lying abilities.

"Bo, is it time?" Tamsin asked with conviction and sincerity, fear and excitement lingering in her big green eyes.

"I think my water broke a minute ago." I answered, frozen to the spot as the neverending steps of the birth plan Tamsin insisted we practiced like a military operation suddenly flew out of my head. "I-I don't know what to do Tam." I added, wondering whether we should be making a quick dash to the truck right about now or worry more about changing the now soaking wet bed linen.

"Oh god-" Tamsin trailed, fumbling with the covers as she moved closer towards me, clearly trying to maintain some composure as she mentally ran through the steps she'd carefully and meticulously planned for this moment. "Are you sure your waters have broken? Are you having contractions?" she asked, placing her hand on my cheek, gazing at my facial expressions as her other hand touched the side of my stomach, if it was anybody else's palm so intimately close to the bump under my shirt I would probably break a finger or two, but with Tamsin it was different, with Tamsin it was comforting and made me feel safer.

"Either that or I've suddenly pissed my pants?" I deadpanned as she rolled her eyes at my attempt to lighten the mood. "I'm not sure, I think I'm having contractions-" my sentence was cut off by a whimper escaping my lungs as the sudden tight pain in my stomach as I leaned forward, putting a hand on the valkyrie's shoulder to steady myself. "Shit, yes- contractions are definitely happening babe."

"Okay, right." Tamsin mumbled to herself as she tried to think up a course of action. "Okay, okay." she kept repeating, more for her benefit than mine - it was kind of cute seeing her so panicky and flustered, not that she hadn't already been an overprotective nervous wreck the last few months - standing in between any potential threat and the curve of my stomach, and of course with Tamsin on high alert - everything was a 'potential' threat. "I'm going to run you a bath and call Lauren, will you be okay staying here for a sec?" she asked sincerely, edging closer towards me with concern as if I might suddenly fall over and give birth the second she leaves the room.

"I'll be fine, if I need you I'll use the bat signal." I reconfirmed with affection towards the nickname we'd given to the new power we'd acquired, since I've been pregnant it's almost like me and Tamsin are mentally connected- like we can hear each others thoughts sometimes, my breath hitched slightly as she jumped off the bed to run the bath, taking her phone with her as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

. . . . . . .

My fingers clung to the sides of the bathtub periodically as ripples of pain turned into waves crashing over me, threatening to drag me to a place where I was out of my depth, Tamsin sat at the side of the tub, stroking my hair whilst she called Lauren again for what felt like the umpteenth time.

"Yeah, Lauren? I think it's time - she's like fifteen minutes between contractions." she paused as she listened intently to whatever Lauren was saying. "Yes, I know you said Fae birth is more intense but dude seriously she looks like she might pass out and I can't get her to feed." she explained as I tried to relax in the warm water, the pain radiating from my centre was too distracting for me to lock on and feed right now. "Okay, okay, no problem. Thanks." she said, putting down the phone as I focused intently on her side of the conversation. "I'm taking you in, come on." she explained, offering me her arms for support as I tried to get out of the bathtub of my own accord before my knees buckled under the pain.

"Tam, promise you won't let anything happen? I'm kinda scared." I admitted, staring at her as I knew my eyes were betraying me and watering with tears at the corner as she helped me out the bath.

"You have my blood oath, you know that don't you? Like I'm physically incapable of allowing anything to happen to you, like you haven't forgotten that right?" she asked with a slightly serious tone, her eyebrows furrowing like I might of just forgotten our bond in the mists of childbirth induced pain.

"I know, I know that- just promise me you won't let them cut me?" I finally admitted, patting myself down with the towel as I avoided her eye contact. She held my hips for support before I felt her smirk without so much as looking at her face.

"I have seen you wipe the chi from gangs of under Fae on the blink of an eye, battle entire armies of Hell's undead soldiers like it was game sport- and you're _still_ scared of that episiotomy video? I told you not to watch Discovery channel with Kenz." the blonde laughed, rubbing my lower back as I let out a huff.

"Just- promise me? Okay?" I gave a final grunt before another pained cry racked my body, the threat of being dragged into depths that would drown me in the never leaving my mind as I struggled to keep myself up right - until a pair of long pale arms snaked under my own helping me stand up, and a warm body pressed to my back reminding me of her unquivering presence keeping me afloat through all of this.

"Okay, okay I promise you. Let's just get you to the hospital okay?" Tamsin offered, holding me close as she practically carried me to the bedroom.

. . . . . . . .

"Bo, a few more pushes and she'll be here." Lauren encouraged from the bottom of the table as I stood at Bo's side, giving her as much of my Valkyrja strength as I could part with as my hand went numb from all the squeezing.

"Bo, seriously - if the Druid has to grow me another hand after today I'll kill you babe." I joked, kissing her forehead as her face contorted into that awful expression again, the one that made me wish I could take all of this pain from her so she'd never have to hurt again. It was natural for a warrior to want to protect their Queen from threat, '_but how do you possibly protect someone from something inside of them?_' I thought.

"Tamsin we need to do something, her BP is dropping and she's getting tired, if it keeps going this way we're not going to be left with a whole lot of options." Lauren explained as I threw caution to the wind and climbed into the bed with Bo, creeping behind her so her back was pressed to my chest as she turned to press her face into my neck, sharing one of the few intimate moments we allowed ourselves with each other as she breathed in my scent.

"Tam, remember what you promised. Don't you let her cut me." Bo whimpered into my neck as I stroked her sticky skin.

"Dude, seriously- you're like a human first aid kit all you need to do is feed on chi and your body heals itself, you won't even be able to tell." I tried to soften her as she threw me a look that dared me to disobey her. "Okay, okay, I promise babe." I agreed again, kissing her cheek as I felt her body tense from another contraction, I could feel her growing weaker in my arms as her body fought to preserve some energy for the final pushes.

"BP dropping." I heard Lauren comment to a nurse who poked her head around the curtain to see the monitor attached to Bo growing a little crazier. "Tamsin, unless you've got a miracle up your sleeve we need to start thinking about a c-section and we need to think about it quick." Lauren explained as I looked down at mighty warrior queen in my arms who'd practically curled herself around my body as the pain grew too much for her to handle.

"I think I might have something." I finally admitted, closing my eyes for a moment as I tried to clear my mind and unleash my inner Valkyrja, one of the pros of being bonded was the ability to share some of our powers - although it wasn't something I particularly wanted to practise with on the mother of my child. Hard times called for hard measures.

I opened my eyes, aware that I'd shifted to my natural appearance as I looked down at my wife, capturing her gaze as she became entranced with my hollow eyes, only instead of pushing feelings of doubt and dread through the recesses of her mind - I had the ability to do something else, to fill her with love and happiness just like she can do with her powers. "Listen to me Bo, you can do this okay? I've got you." I promised her, breaking my stare as I let my face turn back to it's human appearance - I hate shifting in front of people, the way they look at me like I'm a _monster_ - I think that's the thing I'm scared of the most for our child, if they inherit my powers rather than Bo's.

"Another contraction coming Bo." Lauren called from the bottom of the table as I felt the succubus in my arms breathe in a deep breath and ready herself as she pushed, digging deep and going hard, the sound of her screams made me want to disappear to the happy place in my mind, the knowledge that I couldn't protect her from this tore me apart piece by piece, but I was in awe - watching this beautiful creature put herself through Hell and back to give me a child.

Then a different scream filled the air, it was higher in pitch, it was new, it was _Heaven_ to my ears.

"Bo you did it! She's here!" I bounced excitedly as the brunette flopped back with exhaustion, I watched with intent as Lauren wrapped her in the white and cream blanket we brought with us, placing her on Bo's chest, needless to say my vision was blurry from all the tears.

"Congratulations mommies." Lauren smiled as she left to give us some privacy.

"Bo, I love you." I sobbed, tracing my fingers over our daughter's features, noting how furious and angry her little face looked as she screamed away.

"I love you too." Bo grinned, resting her head on my arm as we both stared down at her. "Like mother, like daughter." Bo surmised through a gentle smile, rocking the little girl in her arms.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"She hates being woken up too." Bo laughed as she settled the infant in her arms like a pro.

These fleeting moments felt like they were moving in slow motion, I felt like I was looking at my life through an Instagram filter or something, '_My kind are born to serve, fight and expire. Not to love, cherish and protect_.' I thought as I looked down at my family, knowing now what true happiness was in it's purest definition.

"Ayla? Ayla Sif Dennis?" Bo whispered looking towards me, as if she was silently asking me if I was sure the name still fit.

"Ayla Sif Dennis." I confirmed. "Sif for short." I grinned, happy to share Scandinavian heritage with this tiny little person.

"You're going to make a great mommy Tamsin." Bo commented as she stroked the fine hair on the side of our daughter's head.

"Only with you at my side." I whispered too quiet for either one of them to hear me.

Should I write more? Do you guys want more or is it better as a one shot?


	2. Booster Shots

"Tamsin are you sure you want to come?" I asked, bouncing Sif in my arms as she stared at us contently for a moment, pulling her TOMS on. Motherhood hadn't really changed Tamsin other than the 'Mom shoes' she now wore all the time since hanging up her heels. '_If I have Sif in my arms and I need to start some shit I'd rather be in flat comfortable shoes I can run in._' she justified last time I picked on her about it. "There's no shame in sitting this one out." I reassured her as her eyebrows furrowed into displeasure at the suggestion she couldn't handle this.

"They're just booster shots, how bad can it be?" she snorted, walking towards me before placing a kiss on my forehead and plucking the baby from my arms. "Besides, she'll be scared if her mama isn't there." Tamsin smiled, cooing over our daughter.

"Tam- she's six weeks old, I don't think she understands that she's getting her shots." I thought aloud as I wrapped my arms around her from behind, peeking over her shoulder at the tiny fae who stared inquisitively back at Tamsin "She'll be fine if you decide to go to work today."

"She's five and a half weeks old actually." Tamsin corrected me with a smirk, leaning back into my embrace with a sigh as I moved the strap of her white vest and kissed her shoulder. "Do you know why it is valkyries have such short childhoods Bo?" she asked me, turning to meet my gaze as I tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her ear.

"I never really thought about it in all honesty." I answered frankly.

"It's because we have to be ready to fight and serve, children are vulnerable, they aren't made for battlefields - the quicker we grow up, the quicker we have to be brave" she frowned, thinking on the many missed childhoods that come from many battlehardened lifetimes. "so sue me if I don't want my daughter to have to be brave just yet, okay?"

"Okay babe." I nodded, feeling in the atmosphere change as Tamsin's posture stiffened slightly - as if she was on high alert with our baby in her arms, it had become a tell tale sign for me that Tamsin was panicking, recollecting memories from lifetimes that seem too long ago to be hers. "Hey, hey." I whispered, moving in front of her as she bit the side of her cheek, deep in thought. "She's going to do great okay?" I promised her as she silently nodded her head.

"Yeah- you're right." she agreed, passing me Sif back as her face wrinkled into a cry, telling us she was hungry.

I quickly passed her the baby back as Tamsin shot me a look of confusion. "She's hungry though." the valkyrie stated, taking our daughter back in her arms, clearly wondering if there was a reason I wasn't feeding her.

"You feed her babe, she wants her mama." I grinned, tracing my finger over Sif's white blond baby hair - just like Tamsin's.

"Bo that's kind of your territory." she acknowledged as I moved through the kitchen, making up an expressed bottle as Tamsin bounced our crying daughter from the sidelines.

"Just because I have the boobs doesn't mean you can't feed her too." I explained, passing her a bottle over the counter as I was met with a confused look.

"But you love feeding her? You said it was the best part of your day?" Tamsin wondered aloud, still unsure of why I was getting her to do this.

"It is - I get to share something with her that you don't get to be a part of and that's not fair, plus I can tell you're still freaking out about the shots so why don't you feed her and have some bro time or whatever it is you do with the baby when I'm out of the room and relax?" I suggested, ushering her with my hands towards the sofa as she carefully sat down with the precious cargo in her arms. "I'm going to pack a diaper bag, you relax okay?" I smiled, kissing the crown of her head as she reclined into the sofa.

. . . . . . . . .

I immediately understood why this was Bo's favourite part of the day, she was just so relaxed when she was feeding, her little hand capturing my finger as I played with her whilst she fed on the bottle. "Have I told you yet about the first time I met your mom?" I asked aloud, cooing over her as her little feet kicked. "That's right, I arrested her." I smiled, talking to my baby. Glad nobody else was around to witness this. "Best decision I ever made kiddo." I smiled, rocking her gently in my arms as her eyelids began to flutter. "Stay like this forever please, don't ever grow up Sif." I frowned, kissing the crown of her white blonde hair as her lips curled into a contented sigh as she finished her bottle.

We still didn't know whether Sif was Valkyrja or Succubus or maybe even both, frankly I don't even want to know, the fear of her being like _me_ was still ever present.

"Tamsin why are you scared of Sif being a valkyrie like you?" I heard Bo ask me from behind, sneaking up on me to plant a chaste kiss on my cheek before sitting at the side of me to fawn over our baby.

"If you can read my mind well enough to know that I'm worried she might be a valkyrie then I'm pretty sure you can read my mind well enough to know why." I dryly replied, not impressed that she was listening to my private thoughts.

"Your mom?" Bo frowned, trying her best to be sympathetic.

"Bingo." I muttered, eager not to think about the relationship between me and my family, at least not when I have a relationship to build with my own daughter. "We have a dysfunctional relationship at best, let's face it - I haven't called my mom 'Mom' since I was a newborn, she's always just been 'Acacia' you know?" I tried to explain to Bo without giving too much of myself away emotionally.

"Babe, talk to me." Bo pushed me gently, taking the now sleeping baby from my grasps and putting her in her moses basket on the other side of the sofa before taking my hands.

"My grandmother is the Queen of the Valkyrja, legend has it she didn't even see Acacia for the first ten years of her life - sending her to Mount Olympus instead to be trained by Zeus, when I was a child the only time Acacia told me she loved me was when I kicked the crap out of Thor and Loki - and even then it was only because she won a bet against Odin. Do you know what Acacia said to me the first time she saw Sif?"

I sniffed a little as Bo looked at me with those big gentle brown eyes, listening intently as she pressed further for more information. "I don't, what did she say?" Bo asked.

"She said it was the proudest she'd ever been of me, that Sif is the future of the royal Valkyrja bloodline now - I don't want that for my daughter, I don't want her to grow up to be a monster like me." I whispered, staring at the tiny girl in the moses basket a few metres away as she slept so sweetly.

"Woah, woah, woah." she interjected, leaning forward and touching my face to get my attention back. "Where the Hell is this whole 'monster like me' thing coming from?" Bo gently prodded.

"People fear us Bo. Valkyries are the angels of death, when people see my actual face they cower away in terror - I don't want Sif to grow up to think all she can ever be is a monster like me. I want her to be anything and everything she chooses to be." I tried to explain whilst simultaneously shying away from the brunette's unforgivingly acute stare.

"Bullshit Tamsin." Bo scoffed as my face twitched with anger, anger at being mocked whilst I tried to share an intimate confession with my wife.

"How dare yo-" I went to finish but she interjected me.

"You are the bravest, kindest woman I have ever met. I love you every minute of every day and there isn't a god damn thing about you that I am not proud of. You are the light and joy of my life and if our daughter grows up wanting to be just like her mama I will be just as proud of her too, people are frightened by the things they don't know and just because people don't understand your story doesn't make you a monster. I love you no matter which face you choose to wear, because when I kiss your lips I taste the rest of my life, a life I will spend by your side. No matter who or what our daughter is she will always be ours, not the Wanderer's, or Acacia's - ours." Bo growled, climbing into my lap and kissing me hard and passionately, her hands wandering over my skin as she cupped my cheeks, pulling aways from our searing kiss. "Show me your face." she whispered.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I asked as I squirmed underneath her at the thought of showing her the parts of myself I couldn't get rid of.

"You know what I mean, show me your valkyrie." she whispered again, leaning back closer to kiss my neck as I closed my eyes and tried to fight the urge to give into my wife's requests.

"I can't Bo - I can't. Sif is right there, what if she wakes up and I scare her?" I asked gently, frightened that my actual appearance might terrify my child.

"You won't scare her T, I promise you." Bo tempted, rubbing my shoulders as her knees sat over each side of my legs, leaning back in to kiss my lips as I finally gave into her.

I closed my eyes, finding the place inside of me where I hid my valkyrie, where I pushed her into the recess of my mind, eager to forget about her. _'I'm not a Valkyrie anymore, I'm a mother.'_ I told myself each time I felt the need to unleash her at work, I felt my eyes sink further and my cheekbones become more prominent, scared to open my eyes incase it was too much for Bo.

"Open your eyes." she whispered as I kept them clenched shut, unable to see anything as she stroked the soft skin on the side of my neck, knowing how much of a weakness it was for me to resist.

I opened my eyes, quickly trying to focus on her facial expressions, scared that fear might flash across her face. She stared at me - entranced in the shared gaze, still like a doe in headlights as I tried to think of something to say, worried that the fear might of paralysed her as she stared deep into my eyes.

"Bo - say something?" I urged her, tears threatening to fall from my cheeks as I convinced myself she thought I was a monster, I turned my head slowly, looking away as my cheeks burned with shame. Until a soft hand cupped the side of my face and brought me back, holding my face up for her to examine.

"You're beautiful" she breathed, taking me in as her thumb stroked the side of my face "so, so beautiful Tamsin." she concluded, running her hand through my white blonde hair as she leaned in and kissed me in a way only she could. A kiss that exceeded a physical interaction and transcended into something far more beautiful, a promise - signed with a motion, a gesture that wrapped itself around my bones and made me feel so safe and loved. "You are so sexy." she moaned as she pulled away for air before diving back in again and touching the side of my smiling face with her fingertips before attempting to pull the vest from my body as her palms found their way to my breasts.

I moaned into her mouth as we found ourselves hungry with lust, until I remembered the sleeping baby at the side of the sofa. "Oh god-" I muttered as I pulled away from our kiss. "Not in front of the baby Isabeau." I pleaded, making sure to use her full name so she knew I was being serious.

It was only as she pulled away to throw me a look that screamed '_seriously?_' that I saw the clock on the wall. "Shit!" I shouted, jumping from sofa as Bo clambered off of me in confusion. "It's 10.00AM Bo!" I hurriedly explained to her as I threw my leather jacket on and threw Bo's coat in her direction.

"What are you talking about?!" Bo questioned with confusion etched across her face until the penny suddenly dropped. "Oh shit! Her booster shots!" Bo jumped up, throwing her coat on and gently maneuvering the sleeping baby from her basket to the car seat.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Okay so which mommy is holding her whilst we get the vaccinations done?" the young, fresh faced nurse asked us. _'Definitely a Light pixie_' I thought, taking in her petite redhead frame as Bo rocked Sif in the corner of the room, attempting to calm her down as she moaned and whimpered at being awakened from her deep sleep. "No need for a DNA test, definitely yours Tam." Bo sighed as I threw her a scowl that screamed _'very funny'._

"Bo will hold her, I'll just sit at the side - I'm just here for moral support." I explained as the nurse pulled the latex gloves on with a snap which suddenly caused all of my sensibilities to fracture. "Okay, okay- stop." I laughed as she stepped towards Bo with the tray, holding my arm out so she couldn't pass me.

"What's the problem?" the nurse asked with a puzzled face as I could feel Bo's eyes burning into the back of my head for causing a scene.

"I can't let you near my baby with those needles." I frowned, expecting someone to laugh at my stupidity any second.

"Blood bound Fae tend to sometimes handle the fight or flight urge a little better if they're not in the room, what about if you wait outside and we can come and get you as soon as it's over?" the nurse suggested as I felt my eyebrows furrow with a little more seriousness.

"Take another step towards my baby lady and I'll arrest you." I said as my voice raised an octave or three from the panic. I turned to face Bo who sat on the bed with Sif in her arms, leaning against the back rest clearly enjoying the show that was about to unfold. "I told you, you should have gone to work today." Bo chirped as our daughter sat peacefully in her Mommy's arms.

"A little help Bo?" I urged her as I stopped the nurse advancing towards the bed, something primal inside of me unable to allow pain to come to my daughter. I waited for a response, turning back to face my wife until I felt a sharp sting in the top of my arm. "Ow." I replied with displeasure as I whipped round to face the nurse as she retracted a needle from my arm, the sweet smile still plastered to her face.

"Just a little madloch, it'll take the edge off of the fight or flight urge you're experiencing." she explained "Sif won't feel a thing, it'll just be a quick prick and then we're all done." she reassured me.

"Gee, thanks Nurse Jackie." I rolled my eyes and rubbed my arm, sitting at Bo's side like a puppy with it's tail between it's legs as her big brown eyes quickly found my own.

"Feeling better Tam?" she whispered out of earshot of the nurse, trying to stifle a laugh.

"Fuck you." I frowned as I rubbed my arm before extending my hands to play with Sif's tiny little baby feet.

The needle looked frighteningly big in comparison to Sif's tiny frame, I placed my finger in the palm of Sif's hand convinced that if it hurt too much she could use her baby strength to squeeze my finger, the world started moving in slow motion as the needle got closer and closer to her skin. "Mama's here." I whispered as the nurse gave Sif the shot.

Nothing. No screams, no sound. Nothing.

"Bo something's wrong, she didn't cry." I quickly panicked.

"Oh don't worry, some babies really don't feel a thing. She must get her high pain threshold from her mama." the nurse laughed, eyeing me up as Bo smiled reassuringly.

I sat back, staring intently at my daughter trying to pick up something that everyone else was seemingly missing. Call it mother's intuition or whatever - but then the next booster shot came.

The tears and whimpers flew freely.

"Hey, hey, hey it's all done now." the nurse confirmed with that cheery voice that's supposed to help.

I grabbed Sif from out of Bo's lap and held her tight to my body as I tried to will the tears away, bouncing my baby in my arms.

"Tam- why are you crying?" Bo asked with concern as I sobbed, refusing to let anyone near Sif. I tried to speak but my words were lost in the tears, Bo put her hand on my cheek as she waited patiently for me to speak.

"Don't worry about it, a lot of moms get like that." the nurse smiled kindly as I tried to catch my breath, reassured by Sif's gentle snores.

"Tam it's okay, she did great, not even a whimper from her - talk to me babe?" Bo gently pried as I shook my head.

"No talking, let's never, ever talk about that again." I commented, trying to claw back at my stoic badass composure as mascara stained my cheeks.

"Okay." Bo sighed, lifting her arms to take Sif but was met with my shaking head.

"Just let me hold her for a while please, it makes her feel better." I explained.

"It makes _her_ feel better, or_ you_ feel better?" Bo teased as the nurse left us alone for a moment to grab Sif's chart.

"Does it matter?" I asked, my eyes laced with sincerity as I held my snoring little mini me to my chest.

"No baby." Bo replied, "Not at all."


	3. Diapers and Briefs

I woke up screaming, that much I remembered. Convinced that _he_ had came back, only this time for my daughter.

"Bo, it's me, it's me relax." I heard a familiar voice as I my arms flailed, blinded by the darkness of the room. "I'm here, it's okay. You're okay babe." the voice whispered, until I felt familiar arms entrap me and pull me close to the curves of a warm bare body beside me.

"Tamsin?" I asked, bleary eyed.

"Hey Succubus." I saw her lips turn at the corners into a smile as she pushed the hair stuck to my forehead out of my face.

"I had a nightmare again." I muttered, actively trying to get the imagery out of my head.

"I know, you were crying in your sleep so I tried to wake you - but then you succu-hulked out on me." she explained, stroking my face as I caught my breath, until another shrill cry filled the air from the corner of the room.

"Oh shit, quick, grab her Tamsin before she wakes Kenzi." I heavily whispered to my valkyrie, half pushing her out the bed as I remembered my sleeping best friend down the corridor - Kenzi practically lived at Hale's now but I did love the nights she came back home, even if they were growing rarer.

"Sweetheart, forget Sif waking her up, the only way Kenzi would have slept through your episode just now is if she died in her sleep last night." Tamsin wrinkled her nose, plucking Sif from her crib. "What's mama's girl making all that noise for?" she cooed, climbing back into bed with our baby pressed securely against her shoulder, before kissing me on the temple. "Do you want your mommy? Is that what this is all over?" Tamsin playfully furrowed her eyebrows, kissing Sif on the tip of the nose as her screams softened into mews.

"She needs feeding, can you turn on a lamp?" I asked as I took my kicking daughter, sitting up to throw my vest off before lying back down in the pillows.

Tamsin switched on the bedside lamp, it's dull light casted the room in warm hues - light enough for me to see what I was doing, but dark enough not to wake us all up. "Sorry babe, I know you have to be up for work in a few hours - do you want me to feed her downstairs?" I asked Tamsin with apologetic eyes.

"No, god no." she whispered, resting her head on her elbow, staring at us contently. "You know, this is the favourite part of my night right?" she smiled.

I shrunk back into the bed as Sif latched on, pulling the sheets a little higher as a pale hand reached out to stroke the crown of her head. "You should get some sleep babe." I suggested as our baby fed hungrily, feeding herself into a quiet trance as her eyes fluttered tiredly.

"I texted Dyson to let him know I'm going to work from home tomorrow, work is work, these moments are precious. I've waited lifetimes for them." she smiled, breathing out a content sigh.

My own eyelids began to flutter as Tamsin's watched over us protectively as Sif sleepily fed away. "I'm so exhausted Tam." I admitted as the lack of sleep that came with the newborn baby was finally getting to me, it felt like no amount of chi in the world could cure the exhaustion that comes with motherhood.

"Go to sleep Bo, I'll stay right here." she promised, knowing that the thought of more nightmares was enough to drive me off the idea of ever sleeping again.

"I can't sleep whilst Sif is feeding." I sleepily replied, my eyes now fully closed as I sunk a little further into the pillows.

"Go to sleep, I'll take care of it." Tamsin whispered against my cheek, kissing my forehead as I drifted asleep along with my daughter.

. . . . . . . . .

I watched them for a while, it was peaceful.

I placed my palm underneath the baby's head as Bo's arms grew limp with sleep, Sif softly fed on Bo, suckling as her eyelids began to droop from the sleep that crept up on her like it did her mother, I couldn't help but stare at them both in adoration as Bo's face stayed slack and peaceful - '_no more nightmares._' I thought.

I looked across my shoulder at the clock to see the time, this time last year if someone woke me up at 5AM it better have been a life or death emergency, it wasn't that valkyries slept a lot, in fact we do the opposite. Valkyries can go weeks without sleep, an ability forged in the heats of war so that we'd stay lucid for as long as it took to win a battle, when we sleep it's for necessity rather than routine. I mainly drank myself into a stupor just so I could sleep most nights, my body giving in to exhaustion just to rid my system of the alcohol. '_There's never anything worthwhile to do in the early hours of the morning_' I always thought, until this little one came along.

Most nights I'd just wait until Bo drifted sleep before sneaking out of bed to watch over Sif's crib, keeping her safe from whatever might be lurking in the shadows.

I watched her feed contently before she unlatched, her eyes firmly shut as she drifted asleep. I plucked her from Bo's chest and placed her on my own, for some reason I always felt better when she was asleep on me, I've lived hundreds of lifetimes and I've not always been that good a person in all of them, murder, bloodspill and torture leaves a dirty mark on your soul that never seems to wash clean, a weight on your chest that never really leaves you, maybe it made me feel better when I had Sif in my arms because she weighed so heavy on my heart it distracted me from the other things swirling around in my head.

An hour or so passed through the calming silence of the sleeping crack shack before Sif started whimpering. '_Shit._' I thought, praying she wouldn't wake her other mother up as she rested contently for the first time in what felt like a millenia. "Hey, hey, hey." I hushed the baby in my arms, climbing out of bed to rock her as I walked around the room stealthily silent in the comfy underwear I'd traded for my lingerie.

Sif whimpered an occasional cry as I kissed her deliciously baby soft cheeks. "Did you have a nightmare big girl?" I asked, curious as to whether she picked up on Bo's energy.

"No one is ever going to hurt you liten björn, not whilst mama is here." I softened, rocking her in my arms as she stared up at me, she had my green eyes and blonde hair and Bo's features - a perfect mix of us both.

"Can you say morsa?" I whispered, practicing Scandinavian words like I did most nights she woke up, it wasn't something I really talked about with Bo but it was important to me Sif spoke at least Norwegian, maybe even Swedish too. "What about sommerfugl?" I added, kissing her nose as she stared up at me with intent far greater than the capacity of an average three month old baby. "Don't ever grow up Sif, stay my sweet little baby forever." I frowned, thinking on all the missed childhoods I never got to enjoy.

. . . . . . .

When I opened my eyes again it was morning, I was practically in the same position - topless in bed, only this time there was an apparent absence of my two favourite blondes. I would of been concerned if it wasn't for the chatter I could hear coming from the kitchen and the sound of Elmo coming from the television, I threw my vest back on and made my way downstairs.

"Ah! She lives!" Kenzi joked as I stepped through the kitchen towards the breakfast she was cooking, noticing both her and Tamsin were fully dressed. "Jeez how long did I sleep for?" I asked, rubbing my head as the sluggish feeling started to wear off.

"Don't worry about that, just eat your breakfast." Tamsin smiled, kissing my forehead as I sat at the bar stool.

"Where's Sif? She's due a feed." I quickly remembered.

"Don't worry about that, I took care of it." Tamsin smiled again, clearly proud of herself for her ingenuity.

"I haven't expressed since Kenzi accidentally put it in her coffee, how have you fed her?" I puzzled as Kenzi's face cringed at the memory of the breast milk coffee she accidentally concocted yesterday. "-Did you go on a secret booby raid with her whilst I was asleep?" I asked, remembering that I woke up topless this morning.

"Firstly, I don't tend to take the baby with me when I go on booby raids, she slows me down and she's too little to combat any booby ninjas we may encounter on task. Secondly, I used the formula from the top shelf." she grinned, waiting for me to applaud her for actually being able to find something in the house for once without written instructions and a map.

"You did what?" I growled, shooting a stare towards her as I dropped my knife and fork on the plate.

"Oh shit, Kenzi out." my best friend dead panned, shooting back upstairs to her bedroom where it was safe as I held my stare.

"What?!" Tamsin screwed her face in confusion, eating the piece of bacon in her fingers as I glared at her. "I didn't want to wake you up, you deserved a late morning."

"When did you give her the formula Tamsin?" I prompted her.

"Like, twenty minutes ago - why?" she shot back defensively.

"Remember last week when she wouldn't stop pooping green stuff and you didn't know whether to gag or take her to the emergency room?" I prompted her as her eyes suddenly widened in fear.

"Oh no." she exclaimed.

"Oh yes." I replied, "she hasn't been good on the formula - that's why I moved it out of the way." I furrowed my eyebrows as she seemed to melt under my stare.

"W-will she be okay? Oh god, my baby." Tamsin panicked, a choked noise escaping her throat as she moved to the baby bouncer in front of the television where Sif happily sat watching Elmo and his friends.

I suddenly felt bad for worrying her, it wasn't life or death or anything, it just meant Sif would be crapping every twenty minutes on the dot starting in around ten minutes from now. "She's going to be fine, she didn't even bat an eyelid last time - it just goes straight through her." I explained, following Tamsin to the sofa where she sat staring at Sif waiting for any symptom of illness to whisk her to Lauren's clinic again.

"Wh-what do we do now?" Tamsin asked with uncertainty as Sif's eyes didn't so much as move from the screen.

"What do you mean what do we do? You fed it to her, you can clean up your mess when it comes out the other end." I fired back, remembering the fumes from last week's poop-gate.

"Bo, I gotta head down to the precinct to brief the squad on a drug raid going down in Brazenwood tonight, can you take this one for the squad? Please Isabeau, think of the Squonks that need to be saved." she tried to gain my sympathy, her lips curling into a frown and her eyes widening like a puppy dog's as she tried to worm her way out of this, using dirty dark fae tactics.

"Forget it, the baby carrier is upstairs - you're taking her today, you made this mess - you're clearing it up. Literally." I dug my heels into the ground. "Besides, I was hoping you'd take Sif out today, I really wanted to spend some quality time with Kenzi for a few hours, I've just felt so- so ugly and fat lately and I'm scared I'm losing touch with myself, you know?" I sniffed, lying through my teeth as she fell for it hook, line and sinker. '_You want to use dark fae tactics? I'll teach you every trick in the book baby._' I thought.

"Oh baby." she sighed, her face frowning in concern as she pulled me into her arms whilst I pretended to cry on her shoulder. "I'll take Sif out for a few hours, you spend some girl time with Kenzi, okay? You're so beautiful Bo you could never be ugly or fat." Tamsin comforted me, rubbing my back as I felt a twinge of guilt for playing off of her devotion.

"Okay, if you insist." I nodded, pretending to wipe my eyes as she ran upstairs to get ready for work and grab the diaper bag and baby carrier.

'_Tamsin's taking Sif to the office today, wanna watch Jerry Maguire and do a little online wedding dress shopping?'_ I texted Kenz.

. . . . . . . .

I marched through the office towards the meeting room where the table of burly fae men waited for me to brief them, walking with purpose in my all black ensemble as I ignored everyone's curious looks - I wore the diaper bag around my body like a sash of extra bullets, black cargo pants tucked into my military boots with a gun strapped to my thigh in its holster, along with the Toronto S.W.A.T team t-shirt which was tucked into the utility belt that held the rest of my gear. Not to forget my all black sunglasses which sat on the top of my ponytail. The only thing missing was a cavalier vest - now replaced with an all black baby carrier as Sif sat unbeknowingly strapped to my chest in her own mini matching outfit - black sweatpants and co-ordinating t-shirt along with her own pair of baby sunglasses. Courtesy of Acacia.

"Morning gentlemen." I commented, moving to the head of the table as I threw case files down on the table.

"Starting her a little early don't you think Tams?" Dyson interjected as I let out a gruff sigh.

"Firstly, I'm not going to be at the raid tonight and neither is she." I said, pointing down to the baby attached to my chest as she stared at the men sat around in wonder. "This brief is being headed by Detective Inspector Tamsin Dennis and the newly promoted Junior Detective Sif Dennis, if anyone has a problem with that can I politely suggest you all take your formal complaints to the Commissioner and -go fuck yourself-" I scowled, clicking the remote to start the projector. "Now if we're all done, let's talk the breakdown of the brief."

"Bruce will lead a team to take the south entrance of Brazenwood and wait for the three count from Dyson to storm the pharmacy once he's cleared the area with team B." I began to explain clicking through the slides of aerial shots of Brazenwood's layout, until the god awful smell hit us.

"Oh good gods what is that?" a young officer in the back asked as he choked on the stench.

"It's nothing, it's nothing." I repeated, looking down at Sif who was sat blissfully unaware of the chaos her stink butt was causing.

"Are you sure? It kind of smells like something? Like a big something Tamsin." Dyson cut in, gagging on his acute scent of smell. "Seriously Tamsin if you're going to cut the cheese at least have the decency to leave the room." he gagged.

"It's not me, it's Sif." I tried to explain as judgemental looks were thrown at me for blaming the baby. "You." I lowered my voice, pointing to the light elf who sat closest to me, clearly here on one of Hale's exchange programs. "I can't change Sif's diaper right now so you're going to need to do it - be careful, she hates wet wipes but if you do it quickly enough she won't freak out." I explained, passing her the baby as the smell nearly made me retch.

"I-I'm sorry, I can't do that." she muttered, trying her hardest not to breathe as she held my baby at arms distance.

"I wasn't asking, it was an order. Do it now." I growled, handing her the diaper bag. "Remember what I said about the wet wipes, if that baby comes back in here looking as if she's so much as whimpered I will tear you apart limb by limb." I growled as she furiously nodded her head and made a dash for the toilets.

"Now boys - back to business." I announced nonchalantly, impressed I'd gotten out of changing Sif's diaper myself.

"Er-Tamsin? I think Dave's passed out." I heard a voice from the back announce as I turned to see the lumbering giant lying across the table - apparently knocked out from the odour.


	4. Birthdays and Gifts

"Hello little one, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Trick smiled at Sif in her white party dress as we walked to the bar. "Well, Sif wanted to come by and say happy birthday to her favourite great-grandpa." I smiled, kissing Trick on the cheek.

Sif baby babbled away as Tamsin took her out of the pushchair, before she wrapped her little fist in her mama's long blond hair. "Ew, sticky baby hands - take her Bo." Tamsin scowled, running her fingers through her hair to check for baby slobber as I rolled my eyes and plucked the little girl from her hip. "What? You're her mother too - you know exactly what kind of places she gets her little baby hands into." she added.

"And what can I get you to drink little madam?" Trick asked, his voice high and playful as he tickled Sif's sides, forcing her to fill the bar with that infectious baby laugh that seems to make all your problems disappear.

"I'll take a stiff vodka on the rocks thanks." Tamsin smiled, sitting herself on a stool as she checked her phone. "Dyson, Kenz and Hale should be here in ten babe." she told me, showing me the text message.

"Well I was actually asking Sif but one vodka on the rocks coming up, Bo what are you drinking?" Trick asked me, placing empty glasses on the bar.

"Oh I can't drink, not with her here." I politely declined, pointing to the infant sat on my hips.

"And Tamsin can?" Trick raised his eyebrows, glancing to my wife who stared googly-eyed at our daughter before she turned to respond to his judgemental gaze.

"Firstly I'm Scandinavian and secondly I'm a valkyrie, Acacia used to put mead in my baby bottle when I was little. Valkyrie's don't get drunk." she explained, wrinkling her nose into a smile as Trick placed the vodka in front of her. "But god we sure do love to try." she sighed, raising the glass to my grandfather.

"_I'll drink to that._" I instantly recognised the voice before I even turned to see who had joined us. "Bo, how is my favourite daughter in law?" Acacia asked as she leaned for a hug, placing a kiss on my cheek as I hugged her back.

"Acacia she's your only daughter in law." Tamsin rolled her eyes, kissing her mother on her cheek as the older red headed woman pulled up a stool to join us.

"Well if I had more than one, she would still be my favourite - and if I had more than one daughter, you would still be my favourite." she wryly smiled, patting Tamsin's knee.

"You did have more than one daughter." Tamsin lowered her voice, clearly trying to hide an angry fire behind her eyes as Acacia shrugged.

"The dead don't tend to call their mothers to see how they're doing, and apparently neither do you considering Trick had to call me to tell me about the little birthday party you guys are having." she explained, before drumming her hands on the table. "Can I get one of whatever she's having Trick." she asked.

"Wait - **you** called her?" Tamsin turned to Trick as he poured another vodka on the rocks.

"Wouldn't be a family party without your side of the family too Tamsin." he pointed out.

"It's a shame your father couldn't be here, he sends his love - he's reenacting the battle of Asgard with his friends this weekend." Acacia added, clinking Tamsin's glass with her own.

"Mom!" Tamsin sulked, embarrassed by the admission that her dad, Tyr - the great God of War liked to reenact battles in his spare time.

"Where's my little granddaughter anyway? I brought her a gift." she grinned, turning to me as she opened her arms to cuddle the baby.

"Here you go Bestemor." I laughed, passing her a drooling Sif as she shot me a look not too dissimilar to one of Tamsin's own.

"Sweetheart it doesn't matter if you say it in Norwegian or not, 'Grandma' still makes me sound old as Hell." she laughed.

"Mom you literally are as old as Hell, you were there at the grand opening." Tamsin shot back, taking another big gulp of her drink.

"So were you dear." she cattily replied, causing Tamsin's eyes to open in horror at the hint of how old she really was.

I read the tension in the room and decided it was for the best to change the subject before a fight ensued between the two valkyries, with my daughter caught in the middle no less. "What did you get Sif? She's in love with the baby swing you brought last time, she loves it when Tamsin pushes her." I smiled, thinking how sweet it was seeing my big bad valkyrie pulling silly faces for Sif in the swing.

Acacia softened her posture slightly, bouncing our eight month old baby on her hip as she pulled out something wrapped in purple silk from the inner pocket of her jacket.

"This was my mother's, and then mine, and then Tamsin's - call it a family heirloom or whatever." she grinned, passing me the object as I looked to Tamsin for a clue as to what might be under the silk as she sat as perplexed as me.

"Should I open it now?" I asked them as Acacia nodded, playing with Sif's tightly squeezed fist. I unfolded the material, touching the object underneath as I tried to make out what it was, it kind of looked like an oddly shaped rattle, encrusted with jewels - it looked far too old and delicate to be a child's plaything.

"Oh look Tamsin, it's an antique rattle - how adorable?" I smiled, showing her the object as her face soured, clearly unhappy with her mother's gift.

"Babe that's not a rattle-" she quietly whispered.

"What is it?" I asked, perplexion crossing my face as Trick leaned across the bar to get a closer look.

"That's Odin's dagger." he explained, taking it from my hand to unsheath it and reveal the battered blade. "Legend has it that when he slayed the last ice giant he used that very blade to cut its throat - people say that whoever holds Odin's blade will have his blessing." he continued, holding the blade to the light for closer examination.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Acacia smirked as Sif held her hands out to play with the shiny thing in her grandpa's hand.

"Of all the things to give my daughter, you gave her a knife? That knife specifically no less?" Tamsin stared at her mother, pushing her glass back across the bar. "Trick I'm seriously gonna need another drink before I kill her." she finished.

"Tamsin, whether you like it or not she is a Princess of Asgard - just like you are, just like I am. It would of been hers anyway one day." Acacia leveled as I thought of the best way to defuse the rapidly growing tension.

"Screw it, Trick can I get a beer?" I asked quietly, finally surrendering defeat that I will never be able to keep Tamsin and her mom from each others throats for more than two minutes at a time, I made the sensible decision to pluck Sif from Acacia's arms and put her back in the pushchair - away from any trouble.

"I will never raise my daughter the way we were raised, look at what happened to Sif." she whispered before a slap resonated throughout the room as Acacia backhanded Tamsin across the cheek.

"Don't you ever fucking mention her again." Acacia growled whilst Tamsin clutched her cheek in shock rather than pain.

My blood boiled, I tried to stay out of their disputes telling myself it wasn't my place to speak but I couldn't just sit and watch my wife be physically attacked.

"If you ever raise your hand to her again Acacia, I'll cut off your fucking head. I'd like to see Massimo try and grow you a new one of those." I lowered my voice, my eyes flashing blue as rage coursed through my veins. Acacia's posture tightened, ready to fight me if need be.

"Guys, do you think we could knock it off just for today? It's my birthday after all." Trick pleaded, putting my beer on the bar as we both backed off.

"Sorry old man." Acacia laughed, before turning to Tamsin. "Always great to see you babydoll, me and your father will call you later." she unapologetically stated, finishing her drink in a gulp and placing a kiss on Sif's forehead before leaving the Dal, just as Dyson, Kenzi and Hale entered.

Our three friends immediately went to the bar to wish Trick a happy birthday, giving me enough time to quiz Tamsin.

"What the hell happened to Sif? Did something happen?" I asked, recalling what she had said to her mother to merit the strike.

"Babe - let's not talk about it." Tamsin sulked, the corners of her lips turning into a frown.

"No Tamsin, I'm your wife - you don't get to keep things from me concerning our child." I repeated adamantly, scooting closer to hear what happened.

"I wasn't referring to Sif as in our daughter, I was referring to Sif as in my sister." she sadly replied, finishing her drink in a gulp just like her mother.

"Wait- what? You have a sister?" I asked. "Why have I never met her?" I wondered aloud, confused by the admittance.

"I **had** a sister, she died. She betrayed us and turned on Asgard during the great war and joined the Light. She nearly won them the war too, ironically enough because of that dagger right there." she explained, pointing to the knife Trick had placed back down on the bar. "My mothe- Acacia" she corrected. "Acacia and I had a meeting with her on the eve of total war, in the hope we could bring her back to the Dark but she turned on us, her own family." she finished, the ending of her story clear enough without elaboration.

"So Acacia had to kill her own daughter?" I concluded - screwing my face, immediately wondering how a mother could do such a thing, aware that I would never be able to harm Sif regardless of her actions.

"No Bo, I killed her." Tamsin quietly frowned as my eyes widened in shock. "Acacia couldn't bring herself to fight back, so I killed her, with that very dagger no less." she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye as I looked back at the blade on the bar.

"Oh honey." I softened, pulling Tamsin into my arms but her body stayed stiff, a clear sign that she needed a little space right now.

"The blade can't be destroyed, it's a family heirloom, an heirloom for all the wrong reasons but an heirloom no less." the blond sighed. "But I don't want Sif near that damn thing." she finished.

"Hey, listen to me - this is your call, if you want me to give it back to your mom I will do." I offered, pushing my hair behind my ears before kissing Tamsin on the cheek.

"I don't want anyone to have it, I just want it to be hidden away and grow old somewhere until it's forgotten about - just like Sif's legacy." she sniffed, before the giggles and babbles of our Sif brought her back from the dark place she was visiting. "That's right isn't it baby girl? You don't need a dagger anyway, not when you've got a hot badass mama like me right?" she tried to smile, reaching down to the pushchair to tickle her foot.

"I know just what to do." I assured her, running my hand over her white blonde locks. "You take Sif over to the gang - I'll be over in a second, okay?" I reassuringly smiled as she picked our daughter up and sat her on her hip.

"What are you going to do Bo?" she queried.

"Don't worry about it, don't ever think about that dagger again - I'm going to take care of it, okay?" I answered, leaning in to kiss the side of her neck before she nodded in approval, clearly not wanting to talk anymore on the subject.

I watched her stroll over to our friends and show off our daughter like she was the most precious thing in the world, it made my heart swell. I barely even noticed Trick approach me until his cough gained my attention.

"I assume there is a reason why you're sat here alone?" he asked as I raised the beer bottle to my lips.

"I was hoping you'd see the signal and come over, I need a favour." I asked, leaning in a little so no one could overhear us.

"Bo you don't have to ask, you know I'll always babysit Sif if you and Tamsin want some adult time." he brushed my request off, ready to walk back towards the group until I stopped him.

"No, no Trick that's sweet and I'll definitely bare it in mind but I was hoping for something else." I added, picking up the sheathed dagger. "I was hoping you could hide this in the vault, somewhere where no one will find it." I handed it to him.

"Bo this is one of the most powerful blades in Fae history, are you sure?" he asked, delicately handling the blade - wrapping it back in the purple silk.

"Yes, hide it somewhere where it can't ever hurt anyone again." I replied as he nodded his head, placing it in his back pocket.

"Consider it taken care of, now come enjoy the party with us - everyone else should be here soon." he laughed, before I grabbed his hand.

"I got you a present by the way." I added, giving him the gift wrapped waist coat he mentioned he liked from last time we went to the fae market. "Happy birthday grandpa." I grinned, leaning over to kiss his cheek as he thanked me, placing the gift under the bar.

"It's very kind of you Bo, but Sif is the best present you've ever given me - I don't know if anything can top that." he toothily grinned as we both looked down the bar at the little girl in Tamsin's arms, giggling and waving her hands as everyone cooed over her.


	5. Dresses and Family

"I remember having a very specific conversation with you about staying my sweet little baby forever, what happened?" I asked with a frown as I struggled to dress my daughter in her special birthday dress, navy blue with white polkadot patterns covering the material - a tiny replica of my own.

"You okay Tam?" I heard the soft voice whisper from the door frame behind me as I turned to nod.

"Where has the last year gone?" I sighed, brushing down the material of my own dress as Sif kicked her legs and sucked her fist on our bed, still in her diaper as I gave up the fight to get her in the dress. "One minute, your waters broke and ruined the good bedsheets and the next she was saying mama. Give it half an hour and she'll be asking to borrow the car." I frowned, my forehead furrowing as Bo stepped forward to rub my arms.

"Kids grow up Tam, we've just got to make the most of the time we have whilst she's still too small to argue back." Bo laughed, standing on her tip toes to kiss my forehead.

"We don't even know if she has powers Bo, what if she isn't even Fae? We stopped aging in our twenties, we will live for thousands of years. What if she dies before us?" I panicked, rubbing my temple as the thought alone nearly brought on an anxiety attack.

"I've thought about it more than you know babe." she sighed, "I know we said we wouldn't run tests on her until she was older but I can't live like this, the thought of her growing old before me is too much." she conceded.

"Y-you wouldn't to give her up to a human family, would you?" I choked, curious as to whether my wife would sooner her live with a family of her own kind if she were human.

"Jesus christ, no!" Bo fired back "We promised each other that we would love our daughter no matter who or what she was, if she's human - then we will just have to find a way to move past it." she assured, pulling me into her arms as I quietly nodded in agreement, breathing in the smell of her hair as it eased my disposition. "You look so pretty in a dress by the way, the last time I saw you in one you were standing at the bottom of an aisle waiting for me." my wife smiled, reminiscing on our wedding. "Although even then you had a sword attached to your waist." she sniggered.

I went to say something snarky back but the babbles of the tiny person less than a metre away softened me. "Mama." the little voice summoned me, "Mamama." she tried again, furrowing her forehead just like me as she clearly waited for my attention.

"What do you want stink butt." I said in that annoyingly high voice all adults use to talk to babies, blowing raspberries on her stomach as she giggled. "Let's get you in this dress before I have a breakdown and throw you out there in your diaper little one." I chirped, blowing another raspberry on her tummy as the sound of her giggles became more addictive than any drug I've ever taken.

"I'll leave you two to get ready, you've got ten minutes before everyone starts showing up." Bo acknowledged, taking a moment to watch us as I finally got Sif in the dress. "You two are so cute." she whispered through a grin, her voice that sugary octave only achievable by adoring mothers who are talking about their families.

"Yeah, tell me that as soon as I've got my heels on. I haven't walked in a pair in months it's going to be like Bambi on ice." I scowled, putting my feet in the navy blue pointed heels as I turned back to breathe in how radiant Bo looked. "You look so beautiful you know?" I commented, loving the way the summer dress clung to the curves of her sides, highlighting her waist, falling in love with how her long dark locks fell over her shoulder as she turned to look back at me, practically in awe of the arches of her legs in the slingbacks she wore effortlessly.

"Really? Kenzi keeps talking about 'statement pieces' and I was worried I didn't have any good accessories." she mentioned, looking at me hopefully as I drunk in her beauty.

"You've got the biggest statement accessory there is, you've got me on your arm." I smirked, turning back to fix our daughter's hair as a knock came to the front door. "You go down babe, I'll be downstairs as soon as I've fixed her weave." I joked, brushing her curly white blonde hair.

. . . . . . . . . .

I sat in the armchair with Sif on my lap as we all gathered around the coffee table where her presents were laid out, Tamsin perched on the arm rest with her camera - Trick, Kenzi, Dyson and Hale struggling to fit on one sofa as Acacia, Bruce, Lauren squeezed together on the other. "What present shall we open first little miss?" I chirped to Sif, bouncing her on my knee as she smiled adorably.

"Can she open mine first Bo?" Bruce asked, passing the gift with his intimidatingly large hands, grinning ear to ear. "I think she'll like it." he added with the deep yet gentle voice we'd came to known our giant friend by.

"Sure Bruce." I laughed, placing it in Sif's lap and helping her with the unwrapping as the sound of the ripping paper made her burst into bellyaching fits of laughter.

"What is that thing?" Tamsin asked, her face screwing into uncertainty as I pulled up the garment of clothing.

"It's a onesie with tattoo sleeves, when she wears it - it'll look like she has tattoos on her arms like her favourite uncle." he beamed, flexing his arms to demonstrate.

"Did your mother drop you on your head Bruce?" Acacia point blank asked, crossing her arms as she turned to face him.

"Mom..." Tamsin warned as the older redhead relented and offered a quick 'sorry'.

"Thank you Bruce, I'm sure she's going to love it." I beamed back, tickling Sif's sides. "Say thank you Uncle Bruce." I sing-songed to her as she giggled, leaning her back against my chest.

"Just so long as she doesn't get any real ones, ever." Tamsin added.

"She can make her choices when she's an adult." I replied democratically.

"Or piercings."

"Okay-"

"Or dye her hair any weird colours."

"Tamsi-"

"Or date until she's thirty."

"Okay we get the point!" I quickly halted her tangent as everyone, including her mother struggled to hide their smirks.

"You know, I never thought you'd turn out to be the responsible, hardass mom - I always thought you'd take a more relaxed, easy going approach like I did." Acacia wondered aloud as Tamsin threw her an incredulous look.

"Mom, you took me to the Battle of Ten Kings for my seventh birthday and said we couldn't go home until I fired my first arrow in battle." she reminisced. "Hardly relaxed." she added with a scowl.

"Do you remember what Vishvamitra said on that battlefield?! He said you were the deadliest shot he'd seen in **years** - how many other six year olds do you know who had a body count that ran into the dozens before they could even spell the word valkyrie?" she countered, rolling her sleeve up and pointing to a scar on her arm. "The proudest battle scar I have is from when I taught you how to use your first sword and you accidentally hit me with the tip." she levelled, rolling her sleeve back down. "And the proudest battle scars you'll ever wear are the ones that come with parenthood - so take a tip from your old mom and just roll with the punches." she advised, handing us a plainly wrapped gift. "Now let the baby open her present from her favourite Gran-" she paused, "Acacia. Her favourite Acacia." she altered, still uncomfortable with the G word.

Tamsin took the gift and passed it to me as she stared slack jawed at her mother for a moment. "That's possibly the nicest thing you've ever said to me Acacia." Tamsin replied, slightly lost for words.

"Yeah well - just because I didn't know how to show it as much as you do doesn't mean for a second I didn't love my daughters." she offered with a smile before backtracking again. "Daughter. Doesn't mean I didn't love my daughter."

Tamsin didn't push her this time, she left it alone as Hale piped into the conversation. "What did you get her Acacia?" he asked, as me and Tamsin both prayed in unison it wasn't another superstitious knife.

"Oh - just a little something that used to belong to Tamsin." she wryly smiled as I practically felt Tamsin's heart start racing.

"Please tell me it's not another blade." Tamsin appealed to her mom as the older woman offered my wife the same wry smile as I tore open the paper.

"Oh Tamsin- look." I whispered, patting her arm at the object inside the little jewellery box hidden in the now ripped paper. "It's a charm bracelet." I smiled, lifting it delicately as I observed the charms already hanging from the gold chain.

"I thought I lost it?" Tamsin asked with confusion, taking it from my hand to examine it before turning back to her mother.

"You cried for weeks when you lost that bracelet, your father offered to have five more made for you if you just calmed down." she laughed at the memory. "He found it when he was in the fields of Valhalla re-enacting Ragnarok with his friends. We couldn't believe it was the same one, maybe it was supposed to find you again now that you have a daughter of your own." Acacia knowingly smiled. "Oh that reminds me- your father sends his love, Odin's sent him to capture Nidavellir - **again**." she rolled her eyes.

"Mom seriously please stop telling everyone about dad's battle re-enacting group it's so embarrassing." Tamsin frowned.

"Me next." Lauren quickly interjected as Kenzi went to pass her present across the coffee table as my best friend frowned at being the birthday equivalent of cock blocked "Sorry Kenz." she laughed, jumping up to pass me the pristinely ribbon wrapped gift as Sif went crazy over the ribbon, pulling it in her squidgy little fists as Tamsin turned back to snap some more photos.

I guided Sif's hands, helping her tear the paper as she dribbled down her chin. "What is it Sif?" I cheerfully prompted as she babbled back at me incessantly.

"The tools necessary to clone Dolly the Sheep apparently." Tamsin muttered as I elbowed her in the side.

"It's a 'My First Science Set' actually - it's age appropriate from eighteen months onwards but seeing how clever she is I thought she might be able to play with it now." Lauren explained with a smile, waving her hands at Sif which elicited waves back.

"That's nice and all but if it isn't tied down with a lead weight or disproportionately bigger than her head - Sif will find a way to fit it in her mouth and eat it." Tamsin added, looking down to stroke Sif's soft baby hair. "I think we'll leave the toys with small detachable parts for a few months, or at least until I convince Bo that a baby muzzle is a good idea." she smirked, before I elbowed her considerably harder in the side.

"I'm kidding!" she protested, throwing her hands in the air as the elbow unbalanced her perched position on the arm of the chair.

. . . . . . . . .

The presents went on for another hour as we tore through them all, the growing pile of toys and keepsakes on the coffee table growing considerably. The inflatable ball pit from Kenzi was probably the gift Sif would enjoy the most, although Tamsin scowled at the thought of the colourful balls being thrown all over the crack shack.

"Now that we've got through the presents, how about we get started on the barbecue?" Dyson suggested, standing from the sofa and stretching his legs as Acacia quickly jumped up to join him.

"I thought you'd never ask Wolfman, another fifteen minutes and I would of had to eat those adorable little cheeks." she trailed into a chirpy baby voice as she leaned over to kiss Sif on her blonde crown of hair. "She's your double Tamsin." Acacia sighed.

"She might look like me, but she's all Bo. Not that I'm complaining, it's like having two of my favourite person." she beamed, leaning down to kiss me on the lips as Kenzi shuddered at the PDA.

"Gross." she play-whispered to Hale as he pulled her by the arm into his embrace.

"Come on Lil' Mama, me and Dyson will work the barbecue - you can help bring the food up." he suggested as they made their way to the roof terrace along with the rest of the group.

I stood up from the chair, holding Sif to my shoulder as I stretched my feet.

"Wait a sec." Tamsin halted me. "I have a gift for Sif too." she admitted as I sat back down in the chair.

"What did you get her?" I queried as Sif balanced on stiff legs on my lap, using my hands for support. "Please tell me it wasn't the baby muzzle Tamsin." I sighed, shooting her a look that told her I was serious.

"What? No! Of course not!" she sputtered, "I got her this." she smiled, placing an envelope in my hands as I stared at her with confusion, waiting for her lips to betray her and tell me what's going on. "Open it." she urged me, shifting her weight from one heel to the other as I saw the nervousness dissipate from her.

I opened the envelope, pulling out the fine piece of paper as I shot Tamsin another look of confusion. "Read it." she pressed further.

I looked closer, realising it was a receipt as the 'Toys R Us' logo sat faded at the top, telling me she'd been holding this receipt for a while, I read the receipt, still completely in the dark at what was going on. "Why the hell did you buy her a swing set Tamsin? Where are we going to fit it?" I asked incredulously, bouncing Sif on my knee as she tore the envelope out of my hand to play with. "What is mama up to Sif?" I whispered to the baby, loud enough for Tamsin to hear me.

"There's plenty of room for it." the blonde added, playing with the material of her navy and polka dot dress.

"Where Tamsin? The roof terrace?" I snorted.

"In the garden of our new home." she almost whispered, looking at the floor as the words left her lips, before she glanced up at me with honest eyes that told me she was serious.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked with uncertainty.

"Well, when she starts walking this place is going to be a death trap." she noted, pointing at the bare wood floor and half destructed walls. "And we said we wanted her to have a garden to play in and she's going to need a bedroom of her own, so I wanted to do something to surprise you, so I bought you both a house." she smiled, kneeling next to me and kissing the palm of my hand as my watering eyes stopped me from speaking, before she kissed the tip of Sif's nose. "Happy birthday litten bjorn." she smiled as Sif placed her hands either side of Tamsin's cheeks. "Don't worry, if you don't like the house - I can get the deposit back, but I know you're going to love it, the place is going to be home to so many happy memories we'll make together Bo." she grinned as I pulled her against me into a hug, our daughter caught in the middle of the love as I deepened our kiss.

"I love you so much Tamsin." I cried, wrapping my arms around her neck.

"Not nearly as much as I love the both of you." she whispered.


	6. First Day of School

"Wake up mama - school!" Sif yelled next Tamsin's side of the bed, pushing the flesh of her cheek with a pointed finger as my wife's brows furrowed into a confused frown from the unexpected wake up call. I took a moment to step back and let Tamsin come around, unsure of whether she'd react badly to Sif's first day of preschool.

"What have I told you about growing up so damn quick?" Tamsin tiredly sighed at our daughter, grabbing her under the arms and pulling her under the sheets as Sif giggled, wrapping her arms around her mama and kissing her cheek. "Why don't we just stay here today? We can watch Nemo and I'll make pancakes?" Tamsin tried to bribe her, not quite prepared for her first day of school.

"I'm three and a half now mama, pancakes are for babies." she explained, wrinkling her nose into a smile - a quality she clearly picked up from her mama. "Mommy you get in bed too." Sif chirped, turning to hold her hand out to me.

"Yeah mommy, you get in bed too." Tamsin smirked, lifting the sheets back to let me in whilst Sif snuggled in between the two of us.

"Me and mama like pancakes, and we're big girls." I announced, pulling Sif closer to my body. "Are you sure you don't want pancakes with us before school?" I tempted her again.

"Okay, but only if mama has pancakes." she whispered through a pout, wriggling closer to Tamsin's half asleep figure and curling up in her arms.

"That's not very kind to mommy." Tamsin quickly corrected her, always cautious when Sif shown preference to her over me - like it was painful for me to watch, when in actual fact the moments were some of my most cherished.

Sif worships the ground her mama walks on, Tamsin is her idol, even at three you can see the careful consideration in her eyes every time she tries to do something to make her mama proud - but no one, and I mean **no one **can hold a candle to mommy when it comes to kissing away bruises, reading goodnight stories or making secret midnight milkshakes. It was a fine balance, it was our family unit.

"Mommy knows I love her but her pancakes suck-ass." she explained empathetically as Tamsin and I both paused in thought at how to address the bad word, trying not to break into giggles at how funny it sounded coming from her sweet voice as she placed her hand against my cheek and stared at me, her face softening as if she was concerned that I might not know just how much she loves me. "Mommy, I love you and it's okay if your pancakes suck-ass. Some people are good at some things and bad at other things, so it's okay that you're bad at pancakes because you're good at other things - like making Netflix work." she considerately explained, looking up to her mama for approval as I melted at how adorable she was.

"We don't say 'suck-ass' baby, that's a bad word and it makes mommy's heart hurt." I replied, exaggerating a frown as Tamsin bit her tongue.

"Maybe if you were a little more careful with your language around her Bo." Tamsin quietly mouthed to me as I narrowed my gaze back at her.

"But, but mama says 'suck-ass' all the time - and 'fuck' too, but she said I'm not allowed to use that word in front of you, isn't that right mama?" she unwittingly ratted out Tamsin as her mama's cheeks burnt a flushed shade of pink.

"Well, er, would you look at the time? Why don't we go grab some of mommy's suck-ass pancakes." she coughed, quickly jumping out of the sheets as she threw our three year old over her shoulder. "Dude, so not cool." I heard her whisper to our daughter as she carried her out the room.

"Sorry mama." I heard a defeated whisper from the corridor.

. . . . . . . . .

"Is everybody ready for school?" I called upstairs as my two blondes came bounding downstairs and into the kitchen in similar outfits, Tamsin in jeans and a black Barbour jacket whilst Sif rocked leggings and a tiny replica of her mama's choice of coat.

"Yes mommy." Sif grinned, bouncing around excitedly wearing a backpack that was far too big for her little frame.

"No." Tamsin muttered. "Can't we just go back to the days when she slept on your chest all day?" Tamsin reminisced in my ear, kissing my neck as she grabbed the coffee off of the counter.

"They'll be more babies, don't worry." I smiled, pulling her in for a kiss.

"I guess some siblings for Sif would be nice." Tamsin whispered out of earshot of our daughter, a grin plastered on her face as she wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Shit." I muttered under my breath as I caught a glimpse of the clock over her shoulder. "We're late, come on we need to hurry up - both of you." I hurried, ushering them towards the car.

. . . . . . .

"Mama, you're not allowed to cry remember?" Sif rolled her eyes at Tamsin as the older blonde's eyes watered.

"I know dude." she laughed, sniffing away the threat of tears. "You'll understand one day when you have a little princess too." Tamsin smiled as our daughter wrapped herself into a hug around both our legs.

"I have a little princess, her name is Chi-Chi." Sif happily replied.

"Your pet fish doesn't count baby." I countered, running my hand over her white blonde locks as she pulled away from her hug.

"Ah! You must be Sif's moms! I'm Miss Hall." the woman came to great us, peculiarly dressed in a long skirt and blouse that screamed _school teacher_ before nervously adjusting the glasses on her young freckled face. "We've heard so much about Sif already, we're very happy to have her here." she grinned.

"What have you heard?" Tamsin asked with perplexion.

"Oh you know, daughter of the Unaligned Succubus and Valkyrja Princess - word gets around fast. It's a pleasure to meet you by the way, your highness?" she tested, unsure on how to address my wife as I couldn't help but break into a snigger.

"It's okay, you don't have to call me your highness, not unless you're from Asgard which I'm guessing you're not - you're a Siren right?" Tamsin asked.

"Wow, you valkyries really do have a keen eye - how did you know?" she asked, slightly in awe.

"It actually came up on the system when I searched your details to make sure you had no priors. I'm a Detective Inspector." she explained with a smile as if what she'd done wasn't completely inappropriate or invasive whilst I glared at her.

"Glad to hear it." Miss Hall nodded her head, bending down to speak to our daughter who now nervously hid behind our legs.

"Hi, my name is Miss Hall, what's your name?" the tall woman asked our daughter.

"Sif." she quietly replied, hiding back behind Tamsin.

"Sif is a pretty name, do you speak Norwegian Sif?" Miss Hall inquired with a broad smile etched onto her kind features as she gained a little more of Sif's interest.

"Ja." Sif answered, looking for Tamsin's reaction knowing how happy it made her when she said her Norwegian words. "Mama er Norsk, høyre Mama?"

"Yes, that's right baby." Tamsin grinned.

"Well that's funny, because I have another little girl in my class who speaks Norwegian - maybe you two could be friends?" Miss Hall tempted her, offering her hand as Sif stepped from behind Tamsin's leg and took the freckled hand offered to her.

"Does she like Netflix? I like Netflix." Sif whispered.

"I'm sure you could show her Netflix?" Miss Hall whispered back, her answer clearly enough for Sif as she stepped towards Miss Hall gladly.

"Bye mommy." she grinned at me.

"Bye baby, be good!" I choked as I tried not to cry before she turned back to Tamsin who was somehow keeping it together, "Bye mama, and remember if you get sad mommy will give you hugs to make you feel better." she sweetly advised, walking towards the classroom with Miss Hall.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay to go to work? We can stay home today if you need to?" I whispered in Tamsin's ear, pressing my head against her temple as she stared at our daughter's skipping shape grow further and further away towards the classroom, without turning back to us once. Tears threatening to bloom in her eyes.

"I-I'm fine. I've got this." she whispered back. "My baby's growing up. I've got this." she choked, wrapping her arm around my waist as we walked back to the car "I've got this." she whispered a little quieter.


	7. First Day of School - Part II

"_Mrs Dennis, this is Miss Hall - you need to come and pick Sif up it's urgent. There's been an incident - message left at 10.45am) _I listened to the answer message over and over as I tried to imagine what kind of incident my three and half year old could have gotten herself into on her first day of school as the floor felt like it was moving underneath me. I'd only just checked my phone after seeing out a client who came to visit me at home, looking too the top of the screen to note the current time. 11.50am. _'Shit'_ I thought.

I looked down to the screen of my phone, my finger hovering over the call button next to Tamsin's name. Deciding against calling her as the realisation hit me that she would probably send half of the Ontario emergency services to the school 'just in case'. No, it was better if I go first to assess the situation.

It was only when I jumped in the car did the panic begin to set in, _'If it was something as simple as a fall or a cut knee surely she would have told me in the answer message?_' I thought, periodically checking my phone in case she tried to call me again. '_What if Sif's been taken?_' I nearly started to hyperventilate at the idea, hitting the gas pedal as concern for road safety quickly went out the window.

. . . . . . .

I pulled into the school parking lot and jumped out of the car, my knees buckling underneath me at the sight of the two police cars as my breathing turned into hyperventilating. Immediately falling to the ground as I prayed to the many gods in faraway worlds that my baby was okay.

"Bo, Bo it's me, it's okay - it's not as bad as it looks." I heard the familiar gruff voice, looking up to see Dyson's reassuring eyes. "We're bringing her out now." he explained to me, holding me in his arms I clung to his muscular shoulders. Praying this really wasn't as bad as it looked, because from where I was sitting, it looked awful.

"I want to know what has happened." I growled, "Somebody tell me right now what's happened to my baby." I broke into a sob as Dyson pulled my flailing arms against his body in a tight embrace.

"Dyson, you have three seconds to tell me what the fuck is going on before I start tearing limbs off, and trust me - they'll be ones that you miss." I gritted my teeth.

"Mommy, Uncle Dyson's Netflix isn't working - can you fix it?" I heard my daughter's chirpy voice call to me out of the cruiser window.

"Wha-" I started to speak, confusion etched on my face.

"Everything is fine, I promise I'll explain everything but let me just get Sif for you first." he interrupted me.

I shakily got up off of my knees, trembling as Dyson opened up his car door and picked my daughter up out of the cruiser, taking his iPad back from her as she ran over to me and jumped in my arms. "I don't like school mommy, can we watch Nemo instead?" she babbled, kissing my cheek as I held her close to my body.

"What happened baby?" I asked, still in the dark about everything.

"The girl was picking on me, and then something happened and mama came and she was angry - then she got into a fight with Eva." she explained, playing with strands of my hair as her attention changed. "Mommy you have pretty hair." she smiled, running her fingers through my brown locks.

"What do you mean mama got into a fight baby?" I pressed further as she boredly sighed, rolling her eyes as if she resented having to repeat herself. Before she could explain I heard the familiar shouts of my wife herself.

"I know where you live bitch, don't you forget that." she shouted behind her as Dyson dragged her away, her face curled into a snarl "Don't forget I can fly too, there isn't a place on this earth you can hide from me motherfucker." she screamed, wrestling and jerking her body as it suddenly dawned on me her hands were handcuffed behind her back.

Sif quickly hid behind my leg. "I don't like it when mama is angry mommy." she whimpered, breaking my heart as I picked her up and held her to my chest.

"Let's get you in the car and you can watch Netflix whilst I tell mama off, how does that sound?" I bargained with her as she quietly nodded her head with watery eyes.

. . . . . . .

I got Sif buckled into her seat and set her up with an episode of Spongebob before I walked to the cruiser a few metres away where my snarling handcuffed wife was sat in the back with Dyson, cursing at him to take them off.

"What the **hell **do you think you're doing?!" I shouted at her as she thrashed against the handcuffs before stopping to turn and look at me, panting for breath whilst a look of fear washed over her at the realisation she'd been caught. "Do you have any idea how much you scared Sif today?" I growled, opening the cruiser door to climb into the vacant seat next to her.

"Bo I swear- I can explain everything if Dyson would just take these fucking cuffs off." she spat at the wolf beside her.

"I don't approve of doing this, but I'm going to make an exception given the circumstances." I sighed, pressing my hand against the side of Tamsin's bare neck and using my Succubus powers to relax her as she slumped on the side of my shoulder, her eyes thick with lust as she stared up at me.

"You're so pretty." she whispered with a goofy grin.

I turned back to Dyson and nodded, giving my approval for him to take off the handcuffs as she brought her wrists around to the front of her body and stretched them, the skin rubbed off raw and bleeding from where she'd been straining so hard. "Jesus Christ, Tamsin. What the hell got into you? What even happened?" I questioned her, lifting her arms as gently as possible to look at the damage.

She quickly recovered from the effects of my power as soon as I broke physical contact from her skin, her eyes blinking at me as I stared at her like a hawk, making sure the familiar spark of rage didn't ignite back in her eyes. "Tell me, or I'll Succu-blast you until you do." I growled.

"Okay, okay-" she calmed me. "I got a phone call to say there'd been an incident, and I knew you were with a client so I thought I'd just be discreet and assess the situation before calling you - so I brought two police cruisers and the sniffer dogs in case she'd gone missing." Tamsin explained.

I went to admonish her until I remembered my own train of thought on the drive here, the panic in my chest at the thought of Sif missing or hurt. "Valid." I said, nodding my head in agreement.

"So then that Hall lady tried to tell me I was acting 'too aggressively' to enter Sif's classroom and body blocked me from the door, so I choked her out before she could Siren me into cochlear implants for the rest of my life." she sighed, clearly regretting her actions in retrospect. "So then I go into the classroom and Sif is sat on her own in the corner whilst the other kids are watching Mr Rogers, I ask her what happened and she told me that she'd started talking to that girl in Norwegian, Sif told her how her mama and Grancacia were Valkyries" Tamsin took a breath, clearly getting angrier just reliving the story. "So then, that little bitch told her that I was a monster and a doodoo head, Sif got angry and Valk'd out on her - scared the little shit half to death along with half the other kids in her class before Miss Hall could calm her down." Tamsin smirked, proud of her baby.

"W-wait, she -Valk'd- out?" I asked, my eyes wide with shock. "As in, valkyrie face and everything?" I finished.

"From what Miss Hall told me? Full valkyrie face and wings too! I've never been so proud in my life Bo." she momentarily gushed with pride.

"Well at least we know she's Fae now." I sighed, disappointed neither of us were there to witness it, we'd been there for her first words, her first steps, her first giggles - but not this. "But that doesn't explain how you ended up in handcuffs?" I raised my eyebrow.

"After Sif told me what happened, I told her to point out which one picked on her" she explained, her gaze wandering as she tried to find the best way to phrase it. "I kind of lost my temper." she admitted.

I shoved her in the arm. "Tell me you didn't put the Valkyrie on a room full of children?" I declared, putting my head in my hands as I waited for her to confirm my suspicions.

"What? God know! You think I'd let Sif see my Valkyrie face? She just thinks she used the power of her mind, she doesn't even know her face changed yet." Tamsin frowned, rubbing her head as she tucked away the information for the conversation she would need to have with our daughter about her powers later.

"Which brings us back to my question, how did you end up in handcuffs?" I pressed again, growing frustrated with the lack of answers.

"Well I-" she paused. "You see, the thing is…" she muttered, looking around the car as she attempted to find the right way to phrase it. "What had happened was-"

"Tamsin falcon punched the kid in the face." Dyson interjected, clearly as bored as I was with her attempts to skirt around the topic.

"Dude-" Tamsin gasped. "Not cool!"

"You did fucking what?" I screwed my face, trying to process that my wife punched a baby.

"She called me a doo doo head!" Tamsin exasperatedly sighed, throwing her hands in the air as if it was blasphemy.

"I can't believe you, I can't." I growled, getting ready to climb out of the car.

"Bo, she was a Troll! Literally!" she tried to defend herself. "She was 5ft 9 and had skin a blowtorch couldn't cut through, I bounced right off of her - she didn't even move." Tamsin muttered, clearly slightly embarrassed that a fight between her and a three and a half year old wasn't the easy win it sounded like it would be.

"To be fair Bo, the kid charged at Tamsin and knocked her out of a pane glass window. She gave as good as she got." Dyson laughed.

"This isn't funny, I can't believe either of you." I shook my head as Dyson fought back giggles.

"That kid tore her ass apart." Dyson burst into laughter.

"Oh real funny Jackass, what was I supposed to do? Use my powers in front of my kid?" Tamsin growled, not amused.

"I couldn't drag Tamsin out of the classroom by myself, the boys in the other car had to help me get her in a supply closet to calm down whilst she was getting ready to Valk out. I knew if we didn't get the cuffs on her there was no way we were getting her out of the school without her wearing that kid's face like a mask." he explained, finishing the tale of how she ended up in handcuffs.

"You frightened her today Tamsin, she said you scare her when you're angry." I admitted, crossing my arms disapprovingly as the older blonde sulked.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, her big blue eyes looking up to mine as she melted my heart. "I promise, I'll let you take care of things next time the school call." she conceded, frowning as she thought on today's events.

"You think we're going to be able to send Sif back to this school?" I asked incredulously "We're going to have to send her to St Vladimir's now." I groaned, rubbing away a headache at the thought of driving across town every morning.

. . . . . . . . .

"Mommy tells my night night story." Sif wondered aloud as I sat at the side of her bed, stroking her head as we looked at the pictures in her storybook. The soft glare from her night light casting the room in an ambient glow.

"I know baby, but mama did a bad thing today and even when adults do a bad thing they have to say sorry." I explained, frowning as I kissed her head. "I'm sorry I scared you baby, mama got angry and she shouldn't have." I admitted.

"Mama, are you a monster?" Sif frowned, throwing me a curveball as I searched my soul for the answer.

"What do you think baby?" I asked her, curious to how this approach would go.

"I don't know." she sighed, pulling my hand, signalling for me to climb in bed which I gladly obliged. I climbed into the single bed as my body curled around hers protectively, pulling her into my arms as she petted my cheek with her hand.

"Am I a monster mama?" Sif asked with the most heartbreaking frown.

"What? Are you kidding? You're not a monster little one, what made you think that?" I asked, mindful to keep myself calm for fear of scaring her again.

"What am I then mama?" Sif asked with curiosity, as if she'd believed all this time she was a monster.

"You're a very, very little valkyrie, just like a little version of Grancacia and me." I smiled, punctuating my words with kisses to the white blonde crown of her head.

It was only when I pulled back that I saw her bottom lip trembling and her eyes filling with tears as the most heartbreaking whimper broke free from her chest.

"Baby what's wrong?" I panicked, tears threatening to prick my own eyes as four years of paranoia that my daughter would think I was a thing of nightmares came bubbling to the surface. I heard the door creak, knowing Bo was stood watching but I couldn't bring myself to turn around and look - knowing that I'd crack if I looked into her eyes.

"I'm not Mama. I'm a monster." she whimpered as I pulled her tight against my body.

"Don't you ever say that word baby." I hushed her, rocking her against my body. "You must never say the M word again, it's the worst word." I explained to her.

"But I am mama, I am a 'M' word." she skirted around my rule.

"Why on Earth would you think that Sif?" I questioned her, softening my voice as I brushed the hair from her cheeks and stared into her big blue eyes.

"Because you and mommy are pretty and I'm not." she cried.

"What do you mean you're not baby? You're beautiful!" I pressed her again, my voice taking a serious tone as I grew ready to explode out of the bedroom and hunt down whoever it was who'd filled my daughter with these thoughts.

"I turn into a m-m-monster" she stuttered "when I angry and you and mommy won't love me if you see it." she whimpered, her heart breaking into a million pieces.

And then it hit me, how this was my fault. By treating it like my face was something to be ashamed of - I'd filled my daughter with the same fear. I'd failed her as a mother in that regard and the knowledge brought me to tears.

"See mama, you don't love me." she sobbed even harder as she pointed to my own tears.

"No! No baby, mama loves you more than anything. Okay?" I promised her.

"Then why you cry?" she hiccuped.

"Because mama is sad that you think you're a monster." I answered earnestly, kissing her head. "What makes you think your face isn't beautiful?" I asked her, trying to get to the bottom of her anxiety.

"W-when mommy said I couldn't have a cookie, I got angry and my face change in the mirror." she explained, recovering from her crying fit. "It wasn't like mama's face anymore." she finished.

"Is that why you think you're a monster, because your face wasn't like my face anymore baby?" I asked her, hoping she wouldn't break down into floods of tears again.

"Y-yes." she replied.

"Mama has a scary face too sometimes, so does Grancacia, all valkyries do." I explained to her, stroking her face.

"Y-you're lying mama, you never have a monster face." she shouted at me, angry that I would deceive her.

"I'll show you mine, if you show me yours." I tempted her as she rubbed her eyes with her fists.

She strained her face, gritting her baby teeth as she tried to force it to happen, until her eyes began to sink into her face and her cheekbones became more prominent, her skin growing frighteningly pale in the ambient glow of the light as I stared at her brimming with pride.

I closed my eyes and let my valkyrie come to the surface as I grew scared to open them again, for fear that I'd petrify my daughter, forcing myself to when I heard her gasp at my face.

"See, mama didn't lie." I told her, her little jaw slack with shock, I began to worry that she was frightened - until her little hand came up to stroke my face as I reciprocated. "Grancacia can do it too, it's like our special magic trick baby." I explained to her.

"Can mommy do it?" Sif asked with uncertainty, as if she was coming round to the idea of it not being ugly but only if mommy was down with it too.

"No, it's a special trick only we can do. Mommy has a special trick of her own, she can make her eyes bright, bright blue and make people feel super loved." I divulged as if I was telling her a secret. "Mommy will show you tomorrow." I grinned, our faces still sullen and pale as she momentarily giggled back, before taking a serious stare again.

"So mama's a monster too?" she asked, her voice laced with hope.

"If you're a monster, I'm a monster." I beamed, tickling her sides.

"When I grow up I wanna be just like mama." Sif giggled, crawling up on my chest to cuddle me as I remained aware of Bo's presence behind the crack of the door, watching from a safe distance as our daughter blossomed. "Will mommy still love us if we're monsters mama?" she quietly puzzled.

Bo pushed the door open with a creak, the sound startling Sif as she shifted her stare to the opposite side of the door, not letting Bo see her face.

"I can't make my face go away mama." Sif whispered with panic, tears brimming in her eyes as it occurred to me she hadn't learned how to turn it off on command yet.

"It's okay, we don't have too. Mommy loves us just the way we are." I explained, looking at my wife with a smile as I sat for the first time in her presence comfortably in my own skin.

"Mommy don't look, I'll scare you." Sif frowned, her back still faced to Bo.

"...You don't have to show me till you're ready, but mommy loves you no matter what face you wear. Mommy can make her face do something special as well." Bo tempted her, which clearly worked as Sif hesitantly turned around.

"There's my beautiful girl." Bo grinned, a wave of relief crashing over our daughter as her little legs practically flew off of the bed and into her arms.

"I was scared mommy." Sif admitted, nestling her face into Bo's neck whilst she sucked her thumb.

"I was scared when I first knew I was special too, so was mama." Bo comforted her, climbing into the single bed alongside of me with our daughter in her arms.

I couldn't help but take a moment to enjoy the scene before me, my daughter pressed up against Bo's chest, sucking her thumb contently with her special face. I moved a long strand of dark hair from Bo's face and pushed it behind her ear, kissing her jaw line until she turned to kiss me back, her lips crashing against mine in a way that told me she was as happy as I.

"Mommy, will you show me your special trick?" Sif quietly requested, her voice heavy with sleep, looking up at Bo's face expectantly.

Sure enough Bo's eyes turned into that magical shade of blue as Sif's mouth widened in awe, her eyes filled with love as she stared into her mother's gaze.

"I want eyes like Mommy's when I grow up." she whispered, before sucking her thumb again, nestling back into Bo's chest as my wife curled up closer to me, kissing my collarbone as I closed my eyes along with Sif's, content in the knowledge that monsters can be beautiful too. Especially mine.


	8. An Unfathomable Loss

(I don't normally do trigger warnings, I think if you're not mature enough to read a story without the author having to pre spoil half the plot for everyone else then you shouldn't be reading stories with a T/M rating. However I'm making an exception in this case because I think it's one of the sadder snapshots I've wrote. I wanted to write something to try and explain why Tamsin is the overly protective one/worrier of the two -I think it's important to write sad things sometimes, but I will always try to do it as respectfully as possible- big thank you to all of you who review, it really drives me to write more!)

Flashback Snapshot.

I read the pregnancy test again, just to make sure. Putting it on the side with the three others as I couldn't help but pull my knees to my chest and wonder what to do next. It wasn't that as I wasn't ready for kids, having children is all I've thought about for nearly a thousand lifetimes, but finding my soulmate seemed to press a button inside of me that has set an alarm on my maternal clock that feels like it's going off every half an hour and there's no snooze button.

'_Come home now, it's urgent._' I texted, knowing that Bo would now be flying through the streets of Toronto at break neck speed, urgency is not a word frequently used in my vocabulary. '_Don't drive like a maniac, I'd like my wife in one piece if possible._' I added with a smile creeping up my lips, throwing my phone on the side as I pulled myself together and finally got up off the bathroom floor, looking at my stomach in the mirror for the faintest signs of a growing bump, pushing my belly out and wondering what I'd look like pregnant. '_Gross_.' I thought as I imagined getting fat and sweaty with pregnancy.

Nerves seemed to get a hold of me, which is a feeling I wasn't used to. Valkyries don't do any other speed than 'cruise control', we don't do nervous, or worried, or _weakness_. I thought for a moment about the things that made me feel safe on the rare occasions I was feeling scared, well, the few things other than my wife who was now probably flying through suburban roads to make sure I'm alive.

I wandered to our bedroom, opening my bedside draw as I peaked at the inconspicuous jewellery box inside, worn and tattered. It wasn't that me and my mother have ever had the best of relationship, but whenever she went off to fight battles and wars when I was little, I would play my music box and think about the valkyrie I'd grow up to be one day, brave and strong just like my mama. Whenever I got scared I'd play it's familiar tune and all of a sudden I was a six year old girl thinking about the woman I'd grow up to be one day, _brave and strong._

"Babe I'm home, where are you? Are you okay?" I heard panicked calls coming from the crack-shack kitchen.

"I'm here, it's okay, relax! I told you not to drive fast! I scowled, protectively grabbing my stomach at the thought of something happening to Bo "No more driving over the speed limit!" I acquiesced, walking past her to grab a beer out of the fridge before reality struck me. '_No more beer for me_.' I thought to myself, begrudgingly grabbing a juicebox instead.

My choice of drink didn't go unnoticed as I closed the refrigerator door, leaning against the island counter as I played with the straw - avoiding Bo's eye contact.

"I swear to god if you've called me away from a case to urgently get you another six pack of beer I'm going to beat you to death with this boot." she growled, pointing to the heel thigh high boot she was wearing over her leggings.

"I'm pregnant." I blurted out, looking up to her with tear filled green eyes, _'God this must look pitiful, get it together Tamsin.' I _thought to myself, aware of how ugly it must look when I cry. It's not as if I've ever really done it enough to practice.

"Wha-what." Bo stuttered, holding the stool for support as she looked me up and down, before her eyes focused on my centre, searching for the signs of a tiny curve.

"This is what we wanted right?" I asked, now uncertain. "You want this too right?" I prodded her, trying to fight back tears as I gauged her response. "Are you happy?" I asked again, waiting for her to come back down to Earth as she stared at me blankly. "Say something!" I finally shouted.

Before I could speak another word she lurched towards me, her lips hungrily devouring mine as she pulled me close to her body, her hands clinging to my sides as my fingers cupped her cheeks, before her own fingers moved closer and closer to my centre until a firm hand was pressed across my stomach. "I'm more than happy Tamsin, I want to have children with you, I want to grow old with you -no matter how long it might take us-" she smiled with teary eyes, which I wiped away. "I want to build a life with you, and fight over who's dropping the kids off at school, and argue over gets to read bedtime stories. We have so much love to give to a baby. I'm more than happy, Tamsin." she wept. "We're gonna be mommies." she finally let out a full blown choked cry.

"No, you're going to be a mommy." I knowingly smiled. "I'm going to be a mama." I grinned.

. . . . . . .

"You know, pregnancy looks great on you." Bo wryly smiled behind the book she was pretending to give half a shit about whilst she stole glances of me changing out of my underwear.

"Thanks Succubus, I make everything look great though." I winked over my shoulder before a spell of dizziness hit me, forcing me to sit down on the bed whilst I gathered my breath. I heard that Fae pregnancy was hard, but I was starting to feel like human. _Feeble, delicate, weak_.

"You know, I think I have just the remedy for your pregnancy sickness." I felt a breathy whisper in my ear and kisses on my shoulder and neck.

"And what might that be? I don't believe you have a doctorate of medicine." I smirked, leaning back against her warm chest as she wrapped her arms around me protectively, it felt strange being the one protected and taken care of but it wasn't all that terrible. According to the baby books Bo's making me read it's because I'm 'nesting' which according to Dyson is because I'm a big flappy bird lady. _Asshole_.

"Didn't you know I'm a BO-GYN." she joked, deepening a slow kiss whilst her hands wandered beneath the underwear I'd just taken the efforts to put on.

. . . . . .

"You know, if you lost a couple of pounds…" Dyson began to tease me.

"The rest of that statement better be a fucking maths equation otherwise I'm going to jump over this table and beat you to death with this book." Bo quickly jumped to my defense, protectively covering my potbelly bump with her hand as I threw Dyson the finger. "Don't listen to him, you look great okay?" she hastened to add, kissing my cheek before she returned to the book she was researching for her case.

"Bo will jab a fork in your throat if you try and pick on me." I laughed at Dyson as he sat slightly unnerved by Bo's previous statements.

"I probably shouldn't joke around, it's just strange seeing my old hard-ass partner looking so delicate now." he thought aloud. "I remember days when you could take down all of Brazenwood with just one flash of your eyes." he reminisced, talking as if my glory days were behind me now I was too pregnant for active police duty.

"T-tamsin are you okay?" he stuttered as I became aware of how wet my cheeks were, realising I was crying again.

"I'm fine- I think, my eyes do that sometimes. I think it's the baby." I whimpered, trying to hold back the floods. "Y-you don't think I'm a badass anymore, do you?" I finally choked a sob as Bo slammed the book down on the table, her eyes flashing blue as she practically frothed at the mouth.

"Run wolf." she warned him, which seemed to work - next time I looked up he'd shapeshifted into wolf form and was running so far into the distance I could barely see him, my attention was pulled away by a soft hand stroking my arm. "You will always be my badass okay? You will always wear the trousers, you're just trying on a maternity dress for now." Bo acquised, rubbing my knee.

"And I look amazing in it, right?" I added with a laugh, drying my tears.

"As amazing as you make everything you do look." she added with a knowing wink before returning to her book.

. . . . .

"Get away from screwdriver." the voice startled me as I dropped the piece of the crib I was working on.

"Jesus Bo, are you trying to make me go into labour four months early?" I asked, pushing her arm as I recovered from the shock of my wife creeping up on me at 2.30am.

"What the Hell are you doing down here? I told you not to go near the crib, it's not safe for you to be doing heavy lifting." she shot back, grabbing the screwdriver.

"I couldn't sleep, my feet are swollen, I feel too hot, my breasts ache with rage, my back hurts. I just wanted to do something to make me feel normal." I pouted as her intense stare softened into a concerned gaze.

"Why don't you come upstairs and let me rub your back? I'll put the air conditioning on and I'll help you go sleep." she offered, holding my hand whilst her other fingers ran over the skin of my now ridiculously large stomach protectively. "The crib isn't a big deal, it will still be here for you to do in the morning, okay?" she added.

"Does this mean you'll let me fix the crib?" I asked hopefully.

"If you take your vitamins, stop calling Lauren Dr Dre** and** you let me spot you? Sure, you can put the crib together." she grinned. "Now come back to bed, your horny pregnancy hormones are currently the highlight of my life." she joked as I followed her upstairs happily.

. . . . .

"_Bo, it's Dyson. Come to the Fae Veteran Hospital as soon as you get this - there's been an accident_." I listened to the voicemail again and again as I came flying through the streets of Toronto towards the inconspicuous Fae hospital that sat tucked away in the woodlands.

. . . . .

"Where's my wif-" I began to scream as I entered the hospital waiting room in a flurry of tears and panic.

"Bo? Bo Dennis? My name is Elisa, Detective Dyson told me to expect you - follow me." the nurse explained, leading me through what felt like endless white doors and disinfected corridors.

We entered another corridor, the door marked with a sign above saying 'Critical Care Unit.' which made my stomach tie in knots. "Your friend Dyson wanted to stay, but he said Detective Dennis would have wanted him to go and interview the other driver instead." the nurse explained as I wondered how long she'd been speaking for, numb to everything other than my feet paving the tiled floor closer to wherever Tamsin was lying.

"Can you tell me what has happened to my wife?" I stuttered as we reached the door of her hospital room, it wasn't that the nurse had told me we were here, but I could feel _her_. I knew she was here. Which could only mean she was still alive, I had that much at least.

"Your wife was involved in a head on collision with a drunk-driver, she was thrown ten foot through the windscreen of the car and shattered her pelvis, spine and her right leg. She has a punctured lung and a fractured cheekbone and we're waiting for a CT scan to come back to let us know how bad the bleeding on her brain was." she explained, her words slow and loud as if she was aware that with each syllable she uttered I was drifting to a place I was frightened I'd never return from again. "I'm so sorry Mrs Dennis." she offered, squeezing my arms as I realised she was holding me upright, my legs seemingly giving up beneath me as she balanced me against the wall behind my back.

"Is she, is she alive?" I sobbed. "She was due in three months, we were having a little girl, is she still- is she still-" I couldn't bring myself to utter the words 'pregnant' for fear of what the nurse would tell me, as soon as I saw the sadness in her eyes and the way her lips curled into a frown as she postured herself, finding the best way to tell me we'd lost our child. I knew.

"Tamsin is alive, but unfortunately she has suffered a miscarriage. When Tamsin came in, there wasn't much we could do for her. She'd shattered nearly every bone in her body, she couldn't breathe without assistance, her body has been dramatically weakened by the pregnancy and she was unable to self heal. We were at an impasse about whether it would be more humane to withdraw treatment and let your wife go in peace in co-ordinance with her DNR forms, but a Fae fetus is a considered an individual life from six months and the decision was made to take every action to save your daughter, but something unexplainable happened, I've only ever seen it once before, I'm sorry to ask a question like this when I'm sure you're probably out of your mind with grief and worry - but are you a Succubus?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as if she was piecing together a puzzle.

"Y-yes." I added.

"We think the baby used her chi to save your wife, I left the room for a moment to grab a chart and when I came back with Tamsin's doctor - her serious injuries were healed." the nurse explained, squeezing my hand as I sobbed heartbroken cries to whoever was listening up there. "There aren't many recorded cases of in vitro self sacrifice, we don't know what exactly causes it - there's a lot of research that indicates it's an act of self preservation to heal the mother, I think it helps with the grieving to believe it's an act of love." she whispered.

My mind felt numb, I wanted to cry and scream but my body wouldn't let me, not until I saw Tamsin, not until I saw her breathing. "C-can I see my wife?" I pleaded, my eyes raw from the tears.

"Yes, Tamsin will start waking up soon - Tamsin's serious injuries were healed but there are still quite a few cuts and bumps." the nurse explained, opening the door to Tamsin's room as I followed her in, breathing in a deep breath as I tried to brace myself.

. . . . .

"Hey Succubus." I whispered, noticing the pain in my throat before I opened my eyes.

White walls and white bed sheets, this wasn't our home. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust and work out where I was, before my gaze flickered to Bo where she sat with her knees to her chest, eyes red raw as my racing heart caused the machines to go berserk.

"Tamsin - calm down, it's going to be okay. I've got you." she offered, climbing into bed besides me, pulling me into her arms which was the only place I felt safe now my music box wasn't here.

"What happened?" I asked, vaguely remembering headlights coming towards me and glass shattering.

"You had an accident baby, do you remember? There was a drunk driver?" she tried to jog my memory as I stared at her uncertainly.

"I remember lying hurt on the road- oh god Bo." I opened my mouth in shock, unable to compute any of this as I refused to let my gaze drift down my body, refusing to find out the unspeakable.

"I-I'm not pregnant any more, am I?" I gently sobbed as Bo pulled me tighter into her arms, afraid to let me go as I wondered what the loud wailing noise was blurring the silence. Until I realised it was my own heartbroken screams.

"The baby used her chi to save you, she was a succubus too." Bo wept, stroking the side of my head as I shook in her arms, wondering what the pain in my chest was, I wondered if I was having a heart attack until I remembered someone who suffered from similar symptoms - it was heartbreak.

"We're going to get through this together okay? You are my heart Tamsin, I won't let you go. I am here for you." I vaguely heard her whisper against my ears as my heart raced and I struggled to breathe from the stress, straining against Bo's grip as I became set on the idea of finding the man who put me in this hospital bed and tearing him apart limb by limb.

"I love you." I vaguely heard a voice again, but it was like I was drowning underneath a deep surface of water and everything was in slow motion. Until I felt the familiar pulses of her chi flow through me, relaxing my muscles and forcing me into a place where the world didn't hurt as much anymore.

. . . . . . .

"Tam, it's been a week sweetie. Do you want to come downstairs to eat?" I heard Bo's gentle voice try and coax me.

"It was my fault Bo, if I'd of just asked Dyson to drop off the stupid case file." I gritted my teeth, tears stinging my cheeks bitterly as I clung to the empty space where a bump used to be.

Before I could utter another word I felt familiar arms entrap me and hold me close as I tried to fight her grip, unworthy of her touch as I sobbed.

"I've got you, I will always have you." she whispered into the nape of my neck.

. . . . . . .

"Tamsin, it's been two weeks, you need to come out of here." she tried to press me as I realised I hadn't so much as left the room to use the toilet and bathe.

"If I get out of bed, then I have to carry on with life, and I just can't do that right now." I stoically replied, having no more tears to cry out.

"I'm hurting too." I heard her faintly whisper, knocking me out of my state as I forced myself out of bed and towards her body framed by the door, holding her in my arms as she took her turn to break down. "I thought I'd lost you both." she whimpered, clinging to my skin as I pulled her back towards bed with me.

"We can fight the world tomorrow, let's take today for ourselves." I whispered in her ear, holding her close to my body as we lay in the wake of our destruction.

. . . . . .

"Woah, can I get you breakfast? Or a coffee?" Bo asked, shocked that I'd made it out of the bedroom and downstairs for the first time.

"I'm okay thank you." I weakly offered, still forcing myself nil by mouth - whenever Bo didn't force me to eat or drink that is. "I wanted to come downstairs and take apart the crib myself, it's not fair to ask you to do it." I explained, my voice cracking as I sat down next to the crib I'd painstakingly put together until shaky hands found my own and sat next to me.

"We're in this together, we'll be with each other every step." Bo quietly acknowledged, loosening the screws with the very screwdriver we'd built it with.

. . . . . .

"Get the fuck out of bed right now." the voice growled, harsh and rough. I immediately knew who had came to visit me. "I have tried to come by three times since what happened Tamsin, three times! It's been a month! Get the fuck out of bed right now and eat something." Acacia shouted. Sitting in the chair that faced the bed, the chair Bo sat in to read to me.

Me and my mother never had the best relationship, I never shown weakness in front of her, I always wanted to be the brave, strong valkyrie she was but something snapped inside of me and fractured in a way I can't quite describe. "She died mama." I whimpered. "I didn't save her." my voice cracked.

I closed my eyes and waited for Acacia to admonish me, waited patiently for her to give me her speech about how valkyries don't cry.

Instead I felt her hand stroke my cheek, there were no comforting words or compassionate speeches, just her hand pressed to my tear stained cheek. "I know baby, I know." she sadly sighed. "You always were so brave Tamsin, I wish I could take this pain away but I can't - all I can do is tell you how brave and strong you are, and how much that wonderful woman downstairs needs you. This is the real war Tamsin, this is the fight. You can stay in this bed forever, or you can go downstairs and start to rebuild your life."

"You're right." I nodded, slowly sitting up as she helped me out of bed.

"One day I'm going to have grandchildren, and you're going to have babies running around and we're going to be happy - all of us. Fight for that day." she encouraged me, leading me downstairs to a waiting Bo.

"We called her Acacia, mom." I whispered to her, and for the first time in a thousand life times, my mother shedded a single tear.


	9. The Beginning of Something Special

I stared at the pregnancy test before blinking a few times to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me, I put it on the side, carefully lined up with the two others. Deja vu hitting me as I recalled the excitement and nervousness of the last time I was here, the nervousness this time was from a different kind of fear. The kind of fear that comes from the bitterness of carrying a child you never got to hold. Only something was different compared to the last time I found myself sat on a tiled bathroom floor with my knees pulled high against my chest, this time there was a tiny knock at the door.

"Mama, come and play birds with me before night night story." I heard the familiar voice call through the crack between the door.

I quickly pulled myself together and put the positive tests in the waste basket, opening the door to find my three year old in her dinosaur onesie. "Only if Mommy can play too little dude." I furrowed my brow, recalling the tantrum she threw yesterday over the makeshift wings I made for Bo '_because only her and mama have real wings._'

"Seriously, I'm cool. Wearing fairy wings isn't really my style anyway." Bo called from the bottom of the hallway, carrying a pile of laundry into our bedroom.

"They aren't fairy wings, they're valkyrie wings." I huffed, folding my arms as I thought back to all the mocking directed at me in the precinct when Dyson and Hale caught me bedazzling a pair of $5 costume fairy wings in the stationary cupboard.

"They itch and Sif doesn't like them, she likes playing birds with her mama." I heard Bo call from our bedroom before appearing back in the hallway sans laundry. "Tam, it's okay, seriously. Me and Munchkin have special games that only we're allowed to play. Right Sif?" Bo grinned, swooping down to pick up our giggling daughter.

"Yes, like Netflix." she beamed back, the concept of a 'game' going over the top of her head.

Bo put Sif down back on the floor as a tiny mass of blonde hair and blue eyes shot off to her room, before edging closer towards me, pulling me into her arms and kissing my collarbone "And me and Mama have special games that only we're allowed to play too, right mama?" she teased, her hands finding their way to the small of my back as I deepened the kiss, my fingers gently stroking the soft skin of her neck as I let her pull chi from me.

"You taste different." she commented, licking her lips as if the taste of me lingered on them.

"Well, er-" I paused, choking up as the fear of admitting the truth to her shook me to the core slightly. It wasn't that she wouldn't be excited, we'd been trying for a little brother or sister for Sif for months now, but now that it was real and not just fantasy anymore. It was scary. "There's something I need to tell you, but it can wait until later." I whispered, buying myself some time.

"No way, tell me now." she pouted, impatient as always.

"Trust me?" I asked, biting my cheek as the nervousness radiated from me. "Just give me an hour okay? I just need to clear some things in my head." I whispered.

"For you? Anything." she laughed, stroking my cheek before running footsteps drew both of our attention.

"Munchkin, what have I told you about running near the stairs?" Bo huffed, doing the disapproving sigh all mothers seem to master.

"Sorry Mommy." she replied with her sweetest smile, eager to avoid a punishment. Sif had Bo wrapped around her little finger that was for sure.

"Just don't do it again sweetie." she relented, patting down her long blonde hair before making her way downstairs.

"She's_ so_ going to be Dark." I muttered with a smirk.

"Mama?" Sif asked, turning to face me as I heard Bo's footsteps enter the kitchen out of earshot. "Are you Dark? Donnie at school says Dark Fae are mean." she frowned.

"Do you think Mama is mean?" I asked, turning the question back on her.

"No, Mama plays birds with me and makes me ice cream sundaes when Mommy is with Aunt Kenzi." she grinned, throwing me the familiar stare that told me I was her hero.

"Well Mama is Dark and Mommy didn't want to be Dark or Light so she decided to be a Rainbow instead, she's the best of both." I explained as gently as possible.

"Can I be Rainbow too Mama?" she jumped up and down, her eyes widening in excitement.

"You can be anything you want to be, but I think Mommy will be happy that you want to be a Rainbow too." I whispered, bending down to kiss her cheek. "But you have to stop growing up okay? You have to stay little forever." I frowned, pulling her in for a hug as I realised how big she was getting.

"Can we play birds now?" she sighed, clearly bored of me smothering her.

"Depends if you can keep up with your old mother." I grinned mischievously, closing my eyes as they turned into the familiar shade of black that seemed to horrify everyone other than my daughter and wife, my wings protruding from my spine as I arched them wide.

I opened my eyes, seeing a tiny mirror image in front of me as Sif arched and flapped her little chicken wings, as I affectionately called them. She couldn't fly yet but it didn't stop her running around the house pretending to be everything from a baby chicken to a butterfly. Her eyes were sullen and dark, her cheek bones protruding as a gigantic smile lit up her face. "Can't catch me Mama." she giggled, running down the stairs as I rolled my eyes and followed in quick pursuit, until everything unfolded in slow motion before me, my heart dropping out of my chest as I watched her wobble and miss the step.

"Sif!" I screamed as I launched out to grab her as she tumbled over her feet at the top of the stairs, except the thud of her hitting the bottom of the staircase didn't echo out. I opened my eyes from the wince I'd squeezed them into.

"Mama look, I'm not a little chicken anymore! My wings work! I can fly too!" she shouted with excitement as her little chicken wings flapped furiously as she hovered daringly a little higher.

"Get back down here right now!" I growled a warning, fearful that any minute they would stop and she would fall from the height of the ceiling.

"Can't catch me Mama." she whispered through narrowed eyes, challenging me as her little wings buzzed wildly whilst she darted towards the open archway of the kitchen where she knew the back door would be wide open.

I jumped over the banister, my own wings furiously taking off as I tried my hardest not to break anything - knowing Bo would kill me if anything was damaged. Every time I reached out to grab her she flew a little bit faster, a little bit more adventurous as she picked up the skill quickly.

"Bo close the damn door!" I yelled, reaching out to grab the airborne toddler in front of me.

"What?" Bo called from the kitchen before she spotted us nose diving towards her as she jumped out of the way, Sif giggling as she flapped her wings a little faster towards the open door.

"Don't you dare young lady." I challenged her as she stopped for a second and turned back with the same look in her eyes I used to throw Acacia when I was little and set on doing something.

"Birds fly outside. I'm a bird." she yelled as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Before she could so much as think of her next move, Bo threw a blanket over her, disorientating her for the split second it took for me to grab her and pass her to Bo.

"Ha! Caught you! Like a jellyfish in Spongebob's net!" Bo fist bumped the air as our three year old sulked in her arms, popping her head out of the blanket as she slouched her shoulders.

"No fair. Mama gets to fly." she huffed.

"And when Mama flies in the house I have to zap her with the bug zapper, you don't want Mommy to have to zap you with the bug zapper, do you?" Bo teased as I retracted my wings, closing the back door just to be safe.

"Sif, when Mama tells you to do something, you do it." I barked, my heart still racing at the prospect of a flying toddler escaping into the night sky.

"But you don't do what I tell you to do." she reasoned with her three year old logic.

"That's because I'm the big bird and you're the little bird." I crossed my arms. "No ice cream for the rest of your life." I punished her. "Or cookies." I added.

"Okay Tams-" Bo went to placate me.

"Or chocolate." I added, Sif's watering eyes breaking my heart a little.

"Tamsin calm do-"

"Or Netflix." I finally added, narrowing my eyes into a serious stare at my daughter as she broke into floods of tears.

"Woah, okay Hitler let's just take a minute!" Bo finished my rant. "She's three." she added as our daughter buried her head into her mom's shoulder and cried.

"Donnie was right, Dark Fae are mean!" she squealed, wiggling her way out of Bo's arms before running upstairs in fits of tears.

"No Netflix Tamsin, really?" Bo stared at me incredulously.

"I'm not kidding around, she scared me today." I choked up, her words rushing through my ears '_Dark Fae are mean._'

"Look, I don't know what's gotten into you - but go and run a bath, unwind? I'm going to put Sif down for bed." she sighed, running her hand through my blonde locks as I leaned against the kitchen counter. "Maybe I could come and join you in the bath afterwards? Bottle of wine and you can tell me what's going on?" she suggested, her big brown eyes widening in the hope that I'll finally divulge the news I'd been sitting on.

"Sure babe." I forced myself to smile, kissing her forehead.

. . . . . . . . . .

I leaned against the back of the tub as Bo faced opposite me, the candle light casting the room in an ambient glow, I rested my hands on the top of her knees and closed my eyes for a second.

"What's wrong with you? You haven't even touched your wine?" Bo asked with perplexion, clearly not picking up the little hint.

"I er- I can't drink right now." I played it down, pushing the wet blonde tendrils of hair out of my face.

"Tam, what's going on?" she finally asked, sitting upright and entwining my fingers with hers.

"I'm scared to tell you, in case it doesn't work out." I choked a whimper as tears threatened to spring at my eyes, remembering how close she came to losing me last time. How close I came to losing myself last time.

"Tell me you're not having an affair Tamsin." her eyes watered, staring at me as if she was weighing up my soul.

"What? No! I scowled, sniffing back tears I wouldn't let come to the surface. "I'm bound to you Bo, you're stuck with me until I die." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Then what the hell is going on Tamsin?!" she panicked.

"I'm- I'm pregnant." I softened. "We're happy about it, right?" I asked with a nervous disposition, as if Bo might snatch back everything she'd said.

Bo's face widened into a smile so wide I could practically see my teeth in her reflection as a rush of air left her lungs.

"We're having another baby?" she asked, her eyes hopeful as a gasp left her lips. "We're going to be moms again?"

I nodded my head as she began to cry tears of joy. "I'm so happy T." she grinned through teary eyes, reaching out to touch my stomach where a bloated bump was beginning to protrude. "How far along do you think you are?" she asked, expecting me to say two or three weeks.

"I think I'm around eight weeks." I half whispered, knowing exactly what was about to follow.

"Eight weeks? Eight weeks and you're only telling me now babe?" she sputtered.

"I was scared." I murmured, touching my stomach as I thought back to the last time we found ourselves in this position. "I didn't want to tell you to early in case things didn't work out, I didn't want to hurt you again." I softly explained, unable to meet her gaze as feelings of shame and failure burnt through every neuron of my mind.

"Hey, it's going to be okay babe, just- don't blame me if I don't let you out of the house for the next seven months." Bo teased, offering me her hand as we stepped out of the bath. "I love you so much Tamsin." she purred as her hand crept from behind me to stroke my stomach, I grabbed the towel and started drying myself off, reaching for my underwear before Bo grabbed them from my hand and threw them across the room.

"You're not going to need those tonight, trust me." she mused, pulling me in for a kiss as her hands worked their way over my body, lingering over my stomach now and again before trailing further down, teasing me whilst she dragged me towards our bedroom. "You're calling in sick tomorrow, I want you all to myself." she laughed, kissing my shoulder blades as she pushed me on all fours on top of our bed.


	10. Getting Over Nightmares

We waited another two months to tell Sif, although from the sounds of things she knew something was different. It did make me laugh every time she poked Tamsin's stomach and told her mama how fat she was getting. '_Thanks buddy.' _Tamsin would always sulk, covering her stomach self consciously until I pulled her in for a kiss.

We finally decided to tell her on her fourth birthday along with the rest of our family who had clearly already guessed from the potbelly underneath Tamsin's fitted dress.

"There's one more present for you baby." I tickled her side as she happily bounded around in front of Acacia asking if she had wings like mama's.

"Where is it?!" Sif grinned, eager to tear open another present as I handed her a huge teddy bear wrapped in ribbon, a gift tag stuck to his neck.

"Do you want to read the tag with mommy?" I asked, picking her up and sitting her on my knee as I pronounced each syllable.

"Dear Sif, I can't wait to meet you - happy birthday, love your little sister or brother." I announced loudly.

"About time you let the cat out of the bag, we didn't know if you were going to just tell us after you gave birth." Trick laughed, standing up to kiss Tamsin on the cheek but respecting her boundaries enough to not touch her tummy, aware of how sensitive she was this time around.

"Wait, I have a little brother?" Sif beamed, wiggling out my lap to run around and look for him.

"You might do, or you might have a little sister! We have to wait and find out, they're in mama's tummy so we have to wait until they're ready to come out." I tried my best to explain as Sif eagerly ran over to hug Tamsin.

"Is he ready to come out yet? Can you make a boy mama?" she almost deafeningly shouted with excitement.

"I'll try little dude." Tamsin smiled, kissing the top of Sif's white blonde locks before Acacia pulled them both into a hug, kissing Tamsin's head as three generations of Valkyrja stood in a tight embrace.

"Grancacia you're squishing me." Sif sighed as she clung to Tamsin's chest.

"How about me and you go and play in the yard and I'll show you my wings? Grandpa Trick can get the barbecue started too. Right Grandpa T?" Acacia smiled to Trick as he stood from the armchair with a sigh.

"Anything for my girls." he laughed, holding Sif's hand as they walked towards the kitchen giving me and Tamsin some privacy.

"Hey, you're doing great okay? Five more months and we're going to have another little bundle of Fae." I beamed, kissing her soft lips as I breathed her in. Pregnancy hadn't changed her, that was for sure. Her blonde hair sat in a loose bun and the fitted dress showed off the growing curve of her stomach beautifully.

"The lack of sleep is just getting to me a little, I'll be okay." she forced a smile, a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. The back-ache and exhaustion taking it's toll.

"I really think you should speak to Lauren T, the nightmares have been so much worse just lately. It's not good for you or baby Fae." I frowned, rubbing her tummy.

"I'll be fine, things will get better. I promise." she acquiesced, holding me close to her body, her hands running through my dark hair as we enjoyed the brief moment of peace and quiet.

. . . . . . . . .

I woke up in a cold sweat again, panting as I tried to catch my breath. '_It was just a dream.' _I kept telling myself as I tried to pull it together.

"Baby, what's wrong? Are you okay?" I heard Bo mumble half asleep before she rubbed her eyes and looked at me a little closer whilst I struggled for breath. "Was it another nightmare?" her voice softened as she wiped the sticky blonde hair away from my head.

"I'm fine, I promise." I forced myself to smile as I laid back down on the pillow. "Night." I quietly offered clenching my eyes close, praying that she would leave everything be and go to sleep.

"Tamsin I'm your wife, you don't have to pretend you're okay around me. It's my job to keep you safe." she whispered against the skin of my neck as her arms pulled me closer towards her naked skin, stroking the growing five month bump of my stomach gently.

"It's always the same dream Bo." I choked, trying to hold it back as the familiar fear gripped me by the throat again.

"Talk to me." she offered, her big brown eyes staring at me intently as I pushed myself as deep as I could into the crevices and joints of her body where I felt safest.

"It's always the same, I'm driving the car and that drunk driver comes from nowhere and the next thing I know I'm lying on the road, I want to scream but I can barely whisper and I look down and there's _so much_ blood." I began to breakdown "Just, so much blood Bo." unable to hold it in as I felt her arms begin to rock my shaking frame, hushing away my whimpers as her rhythmic words slowly brought me back to her.

"It's okay, I've got you. I won't let anything happen to you. You're safe here." she repeated over and over again until I finally stopped shaking in her arms. "I'll never forgive myself for letting you get in the car that day, I should've gone to get the case file for you." she quietly admitted her guilt, stroking my back as I clung to her like she was the only thing tethering me to our bed.

"You know I don't blame you." I hushed her, resting my forehead against hers.

"That's the problem T, you blame yourself. I can't live with that." she croaked, her voice giving way to a wave of emotion. "It wasn't your fault, and if I could take it all back and switch places with you in the car that day, I would." she sniffed.

"Don't say that, don't ever say that. I wouldn't be able to live without you, literally." I pleaded as we both clung to each other in the safety of our bed.

"I want you to get help Tamsin, I want you to talk with someone." Bo gently urged me, holding my hand as I shook my head furiously. It was one thing being emotionally vulnerable in front of my mate, it was a different thing showing emotions in front of anyone else. "I'm asking you to do this, for me. It doesn't have to be a shrink or whatever, but please talk to someone about what's going on. I think it'll be healthy for you and I'm worried about what all this stress is doing to you." she pleaded with me, stroking my hair as she tried to win my round.

"Acacia." I finally whispered after a pause.

"What do you mean Acacia?" she asked, unsure of where this was going.

"I'll talk to my mom, but that's it." I reasoned with her. "I can't do emotion with anyone other than you." I added, digging my feet into the ground as my eyes told her I wasn't budging.

"Okay baby, if that's who you want to talk to." she acknowledged, kissing my temple as my fingers lost themselves in her long brown hair, playing with the locks as we held each other close until sleep finally came for us. "I love you so much Bo." I quietly whispered through the haze of exhaustion.

"Ditto baby." I heard her call back as I drifted to sleep.

. . . . . . .

"I can't even remember the last time you actually came up to Valhalla, the Queen is excited to meet Sif." Acacia smiled.

"Grandma doesn't get excited about anything mom, Sif wanted to see the palaces and I thought it would be good for her to meet some other little valkyries." I explained away, trying to cover the real reason of my visit as Sif clung to Acacia's leg.

"Grancacia, who is the Queen?" Sif puzzled, her little eyebrows furrowing in confusion at the title.

"the Queen is my mama, and your mama's grandma." Acacia softened, picking up my daughter and sitting her on her hip.

"Does that mean you're a princess Grancacia?" she pondered.

"I'm a princess, and mama's a princess and you're a princess too." Acacia explained through an exaggerated whisper, as if she was telling Sif a super secret.

"What about Pappy? Is Pappy a princess?" Sif asked loudly, clearly unsure about whether my dad was in on this whole thing.

"Sometimes he acts like one, but Pappy is the God of War - people fear his nam-" she began to eagerly tell the kind of story you don't expect a grandmother to tell.

"Okay Acacia, I think Pappy - God of War covered it." I closed her down, not wanting my daughter to hear battle legends about our family.

"If we're princesses, why don't we have tiaras?" Sif queried again, clearly uncertain about this whole thing.

Acacia grinned "Because we're warrior princesses baby, we wear armour and the blood of our enemies-" she chirped in a sing-song voice.

"Mom, not helping." I sighed as I covered Sif's ears.

"I tell you what baby, why don't you go and see if Pappy and his friends need help with their battle reenactment plans?" Acacia offered as my daughter wiggled her way free of her grandmother's embrace and bounced around excitedly.

"Will Pappy show me the horsies again?" she beamed, barely containing her excitement.

"Mom, tell me dad didn't let her pet Sleipnir again?" I cringed, recalling the awkward conversation I had to have with Bo when Sif blurted over the dinner table that she played with a spider-horsie.

"What? No! Don't be ridiculous" Acacia shut me down, moving to the counter to pour some coffee as Sif ran off excitedly to find her grandpa. "...he let her ride a centaur." she finished.

"A centaur?!" I growled.

"Oh come on, you know Dave is great with kids! Dave taught you how to ride your first horse!" Acacia exasperatedly sighed.

"Mom, Dave is half man half beast." I scowled.

"Well she loved it, she thought he was Mr Tumnus from that book Bo reads to her." Acacia justified, offering me a cup of coffee as I shook my head and pointed to the bump. "Who do you think I am? It's decaf." she scowled back before I eagerly grabbed the cup out of her hand, missing the taste of my black jet fuel coffee in the mornings. "So do you plan on telling me the real reason you've came all this way to see me?" she disconcertingly asked, seeing straight through my pretext.

"I er- I thought I'd get out of Bo's hair whilst her and Kenzi have a girls day. I thought me and Sif could have our own girls day and come and see you and grandma." I forced a smile, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Bullshit." she fired back, taking a seat at the kitchen table as she gestured for me to join her.

"I don't know what you want me to say Mom." I sighed, readjusting the material of my leather jacket as my large bump awkwardly poked the table.

"Why don't you start with the truth?" she urged me, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Has Bo already spoken to you or something?" I screwed my face, unsure of how Acacia knew I was lying.

"Honey, you look as if you're waiting to be reborn. Bags under your eyes, your hair is getting whiter, you look like crap." she deadpanned as I uncomfortably shuffled underneath her acute stare.

"I've just not- I've not been sleeping well Mom." I sighed, thinking back to the promise I made Bo that I'd speak to somebody else about what's going on.

"You know how important sleep is for a valkyrie don't you? Especially whilst you're pregnant Tamsin, god. You know how much pregnancy takes it toll on a valkyrie's body - you should practically be hibernating right now." she admonished me, pulling my mug of coffee away from me. "No more of this stuff for you. No wonder you've not been sleeping." she sighed.

"It's **decaf!**" I repeated what she said earlier.

"Tam, why aren't you taking care of yourself?" Acacia point blank asked me, resting her jaw against her hand as she focused intently on me.

"I've just been having a lot of nightmares just lately…" I tried to explain, my words somehow falling short of their intended implications.

"What kind of nightmares?"

"The kind that come after what happened last time." I softly whimpered as I tried to pull back my stoic composure, but pregnancy hormones were taking their toll on me.

"Oh T." she coaxed, pulling me into her arms as I couldn't help but cry against the material of her shirt like I was six years old again.

"I'm so scared Mama." I sobbed, the idea of losing another baby crucifying me.

"When I lost your sister, I lost a little piece of myself." Acacia explained, no hint of emotion laced in her voice as she clung to her stoic composure. "You push through and push through until life starts to make sense again but it always stays with you, it's always there. The fear." she sighed. "I always wanted you to be a warrior like me Tamsin, and you were, you were the greatest warrior I've ever seen… you still are." she let out a slight laugh. "but then you became the kind of mother I could only of dreamt of being. What happened wasn't your fault, bad things happen to people, you lost a child and it was devastating but then you and Bo brought Sif into the world." she smiled, looking out the kitchen window towards our girl who played happily with her Pappy in the garden. "You'll bring this baby into the world too, and this baby will know so much love in it's life, so much happiness, and you need to keep reminding yourself of that. This is the most precious time of your life T, embrace it."

"I just wish I could make the nightmares stop." I admitted, exhausted from the lack of rest that comes with the fear of falling asleep.

"Honey, it's not about making the nightmares stop, it's about knowing they're just nightmares and not premonitions, you're going to be just fine, okay?" Acacia offered, squeezing my shoulders as I nodded my head.

"Love you mama."

"I love you too blondie." she grinned.


	11. Tease

"Dyson, if I could come, I would come, but right now wherever Tamsin goes I go, and she's definitely not in the mood to party." I reiterated over the phone as he huffed loud enough for Tamsin to hear across the room as she lay curled on the sofa.

"Can't Sif babysit her or something? Come on Succubus we all miss you!" he laughed, trying to persuade me again as I leaned against the counter, weighing up my options of how angry Tamsin would be if I snuck off to the birthday party for half an hour.

"As tempting as that is Wolfboy, and believe me - it's tempting. I have a heavily pregnant wife to take care of." I said as Tamsin's ears burnt red, before I knew it she flew off of the sofa and cut an angry figure waddling towards me in her yoga pants, snatching the phone out of my hand.

"Dyson? It's Tamsin speaking." she growled. "My vagina is about to turn into a train station, I'm literally ready to fire a tiny human like a military grade missile launcher, I feel so weak from pregnancy that it hurts to cough, I've got anxiety going through to roof like Chernobyl and to top it all off, I'm so goddamn fat I've got a constant river of sweat dripping down my ass crack - so if my wife says she's not going to your shitty ass pre-birthday lunch because she wants to take care of me, you better listen to her, otherwise I will personally pay the Morrigan to brand a picture of my episiotomy across your fucking forehead." she hissed into the receiver, rubbing her belly in soothing circles as if Dyson had some how managed to also piss our child off in vitro.

'_What the hell is an episiotomy?' _I heard Dyson ask on the other end of the phone, cringing for him internally as I saw a flash of rage cross Tamsin's glazed eyes.

"It's a ten blade scalpel going through the last of my self restraint. I will immediately jump off the bed and jack knife kick you in the **fucking** jaw with myfoot bone." she yelled, slamming the phone down as I stood like a deer in headlights, thankful that Acacia had offered to babysit Sif for a week so she could be around other little valkyries and learn more about her Scandinavian heritage.

Tamsin and I stood for a moment as her heavy breaths filled the silence. "Are you feeling okay?" I asked her, leaning closer to touch her stomach as she nodded her head.

"Nesting." she murmured an explanation, trailing her way back to the sofa where she clung to Sif's blanky. "We're going to get Sif later, I don't want her staying with my mom I've changed my mind." she added as she breathed in the scent of the blanket.

"Tamsin, it was your idea in the first place that she spend some time with your kind." I countered, joining her on the leather sofa as One Born Every Minute blurred in the background.

"What do you mean '**your kind**'?" she growled a little, her eyes narrowing as she challenged me, the pregnancy hormones wrecked her body to the point that I hadn't quite recognised her the last few weeks during her mood swings.

"Relax T, you know what I meant." I quickly replied, giving her some of my charms as my fingertips rubbed the legs she placed in my lap, massaging her tired muscles.

"You're cheating." she pouted, closing her eyes as the blue chi tingling her skin forced her mood to mellow.

"I'm taking care of my wife." I explained with a knowing grin, leaning forward to kiss the corner of her mellowed smile. "Why don't you want Sif to stay with Acacia? I thought you wanted Sif to learn more about the Valkyrja?" I asked, propping myself up on the pillow - prepared to listen to her worries like we'd been practicing the last few months, although it had been working. No more nightmares since we hit the third trimester mark.

"She's a valkyrie Bo, one day she's going to have battles and wars to watch over, but for now I just want her to be little. When the time comes for her to learn how to fight, I'll be the one to teach her, just like Acacia taught me." she sighed, scratching her forehead.

"You're eight months pregnant Tamsin you're not playing with swords, the only fighting I want you to do is with the straps on your maternity bra." I laughed at her, pulling her into my embrace as she tried desperately to keep a stern face and not crack into a laugh too.

"Say that again and I'll kick your sweet little ass, I've still got it." she winked, pulling me in for a kiss as her lips gently grazed against my own and left me wanting more before we both quickly realised we had the house to ourselves. Her fingers traced over the curves of my body, underlining and capitalizing every point of interest like a writer with their work of art, before ripping open the corset that barely kept my figure together - her hands hungrily groping my curves as her tongue teased our kiss.

My hands quickly melded into our intertwined bodies, cradling the bottom of her stomach as my other hand worked it's way to the back of her bra before she grabbed my wrist and placed it on the back of the sofa, grinding her core into my lap as a whimper escaped her throat and sent me into overload. "I might not be able to fight, but you can believe I'm still a master of psychological warfare." she whispered in my ear, hopping out of my lap and making her way to the kitchen.

"You have got to be kidding me." I growled, shooting her a look that told her that she better be playing.

"Baby, I don't kid." she sweetly smiled, closing the fridge door as she waved a snapple towards me. "You look as if you have a thirst that needs… _quenching_." she teased as I glared at her. "What? You married me!" she laughed.

'_I pledge my fealty, my sword and my heart to serve you. I will be at your side until the dawn of the last days.._' I mocked her as I stared at the TV pretending to not be as sexually frustrated as I clearly was, recounting her words when our souls bonded.

Even at eight months pregnant she moved stealth and quickly like a shadow as her arms draped over my shoulders, her fingers caressing my skin. "And I will, just because you're my wife doesn't mean I can't tease you every once in a while." she smirked, moving my long dark hair out of the way as she kissed the soft flesh of my neck. "First one to the bedroom gets to wear the strap on." she teased, nipping my earlobe as I shot off of the couch before she so much as finished her syllable, racing towards the staircase as I grinned at my head start before I noticed the lack of footsteps racing to get ahead of me.

I turned just in time to see her vanish into thin air, the aura sparkling around where she stood a split second ago as I gritted my teeth at the injustice. "You can't teleport, that isn't fair." I shouted.

"Come on little spoon, I've got a present with your name written _all over it._" she teased as I heard her voice drift from the bedroom.


	12. Four Makes a Fae-mily

Sunset had already began to creep through the blinds as I peaked my head around the bedroom door to check on my ever sleeping wife. Since we'd been creeping towards the eighth month mark I knew if Tamsin wasn't to be found on the sofa complaining about all the reality shows on TV she was in bed napping with Sif tucked up under her arm, however since Sif went to her grandparents on Sunday our daughter had been replaced by the big stuffed teddy bear we bought for the baby's room. '_I can't nap without her little fidgeting ass next to me._' Tamsin had explained when I asked her about the new occupant of our bed.

"Mama's sleeping right now Kitten but when she's awake she'll call you and you can tell her all about your day with Grancacia." I softly explained into the phone as I heard Sif sigh on the other end, I could practically see her rolling her eyes just like Tamsin.

"Wake her up Mommy." she countered, adamant that all the fish she caught with Pappy was more important than a nap. Sif might be Tamsin's mini me but when it came to how fiery and hard headed she was - Sif was no doubt _all mine_.

"Mama has to sleep because the baby in her tummy makes her tired." I gently added, quickly trying to find another subject matter as I knew I was only seconds away from Sif having a meltdown at not being able to talk to her mama. "You've got a little sister or brother to look out for soon, do you think you'll be tired?" I laughed, listening to her ponder over the phone.

"No Mommy, when my little pop-pop's is here he'll be able to play birds with me too." she giggled, I heard Acacia moving around in the background as I imagined them baking cookies in the kitchen like I used to do with my grandma, however it was more likely that they were getting ready to practice self defense with foam swords - an activity I knew Tamsin wouldn't approve of.

'_Can Grancacia speak to Mommy, Little Dude?_' I heard Acacia add in the noise of the background. "Mommy, I have to go - will you give my pop-pop a pat?" she asked, keen for me to rub Tamsin's tummy in case the little brother she was praying for was missing her.

"Sure baby, be good for your grandparents - Mama will call you before bedtime okay?" I rushed, suddenly aware of how much I was beginning to miss my little girl before the pain weighed heavy on my heart that we had another three days to bear until she was home.

"Hey Bo, it's me." Acacia announced as I heard the phone passed over. "How's Tamsin doing?" she asked.

"She's doing great, I don't think she's been awake for more than a few hours at a time just lately but hey, a sleeping Valkyrie is a safe Valkyrie." I laughed, glancing back through the bedroom doorway to the blonde hair poking out of the duvet she'd wrapped herself in.

"Valkyries don't sleep much unless their bodies need the juice, probably best to let her snore this one off." she added, as I heard the crashing of metal in the background. "Sif, no! Not Pappy's battle re-enactment gear!" I heard Acacia call away from the receiver. "Bo, I need to go before your daughter destroys my entire house - keep me updated on Blondie, will ya kid?" she quickly finished.

"Sure, make sure Sif practices her reading tonight - Miss Murdoch says she's doing so good with her books." I smiled with pride, glad that my daughter was learning to read in Norwegian and English.

"Sure thing." she replied, I waited for a goodbye or some kind of sign off but instead all I heard was the click of the phone and the dial-tone.

'_Speak to you later Bo, can't wait to see you guys Bo, miss you Bo._' I thought aloud, rolling my eyes before I put the phone in the holster on the bedside table and moved to the chair facing Tamsin's side of the bed.

"Hey sleepy-head, do you want some dinner?" I asked gently, pulling the duvet away from her face just enough to see stray hairs sticking to her sweaty, pale forehead. "Tamsin? Are you okay?" I urged, softly shaking her shoulder as she mumbled with exhaustion, I placed my hand across her forehead and the panic knocked me over from nowhere.

'_Shit_.' I growled, "Tamsin, you're burning up - wake up sweetie." I practically pleaded, shaking her as her eyes suddenly opened wide with fear and a gasp left her lungs as if she'd just woken from the worst nightmare.

"Bo I don't feel so good." she coughed, reaching out to grab my hand as I sat down next to her swaddled shape in the bed and smoothed over her blonde hair.

"It's okay, it's just a fever - I'm going to get you a cold compress and call Lauren okay?" I tried to remain upbeat, hoping she wouldn't pick up on how scared I was.

"Bo you don't understand." she coughed and spluttered, gripping my hand tighter. "Valkyries don't get sick, this isn't the flu." she stammered, her lips trembling as I kissed the white knuckles wrapped around my fingers.

"You're going to be fine, you're safe and sound at home and I am not going to let a damn thing happen to you, okay baby?" I smiled reassuringly, kissing her temple.

She loosened her stiff frame and curled back into the pillow, "Okay." she whispered quietly, bringing her knees to her chest under the duvet. I stood up from the bed to get a compress and call Lauren, but the fear and panic taking over my body made me feel dizzy again.

. . . . . . . .

I rinsed the towel under the cold tap and searched through the freezer to find ice or peas, or anything that was cold enough to break the fiery temperature Tamsin was burning away with.

"Lauren?" I immediately announced over the phone gripped in my palm as I heard someone pick up the receiver.

"Is everything okay? It's a little late…" she sighed, evidently waiting for one of my 'pregnant faux-emergencies' I'd been hounding her with lately.

"She's burning up a fever Lauren, she's been in bed all day and I think she might be really sick." I trailed into a whisper as my body began to tremble at the thought of my wife suffering.

"Just breath for a second..." Lauren tried to calm me as a whimper broke from my chest at the abyss of bad possibilities in front of me. "I know it's a really scary time for you guys, but remember what we said about Fae pregnancy being harder on the body? Remember how ill you felt when you were carrying Sif?" she tried to reason as I tried my hardest to believe her.

"This is different Lauren, Valkyries don't get sick…" I trailed off before she interjected me again.

"Valkyries are a proud race of warriors who see weakness as the biggest taboo." she reasoned again, her voice lulling me back down from my anxiety as I breathed deep breaths and told myself how over-dramatic I was being, before I heard female giggles in the background, the kind of giggles heard when you interrupt something slightly more _intimate._

"Lauren, is there someone else there?" I lowered my voice.

"That's none of your concern Bo." the blonde quickly defended herself. "Give her a cold compress, help her take a cool bath, give her plenty of fluids and if the fever hasn't broke in a few hours - call me back, okay?" she cooly added, as I heard the familiar sounds of sloppy kisses which I imagined were being pressed against her throat. "I really have to go Bo, I have er- petri dishes to check on." she broke into a giggle as the phone went dead.

. . . . . .

I puffed the pillows behind Tamsin and helped her sit upright in bed as she hung like dead-weight against my arms, not even enough energy in her warrior body to sit up without help.

"Bo, is it gonna be okay?" she mumbled, her eyes glazed over as I pressed the compress to her forehead and attempted to pull the duvet away from her clutches. "No, it's too cold." she reasoned as she held on to the sheets.

"Tamsin you're burning up, come on." I urged her, trying to wean them out of her grasp until I noticed her teeth chattering.

"Do you want me to get you some soup? Maybe some tea?" I suggested, running my fingertips over the skin of her arm.

"Bo, Valkyries don't get sick - something is wrong with the baby." her eyes brimmed with tears as I wiped them away and crawled onto the mattress beside her, rubbing circles over the giant bump in the centre of her body as I hushed away any tears.

"Don't say that Tam." I reassured her, "Lauren says we need to try and break your fever, and if that doesn't work I'm taking you to the hospital - okay?" I reasoned with her, keeping the cool facade I knew she needed so desperately to see.

"Okay." she nodded, biting back her tears.

"Want to take a bath with me? See if we can get you cooled down?" I playfully added, so desperate to not let her see me crack.

"I think that would make me feel better." she broke into a half smile, wiping away the tears in the corners of her eyes.

. . . . . .

"It's okay, lean on my shoulders." I urged as I tried to shimmy Tamsin out of the yoga pants clinging to her legs, her arms draped around my neck as I gently let my hands cradle the curve of her stomach between taking each item of clothing off.

"I feel so pathetic." she tried to laugh, breaking into a cough as the sheen of sweat over her body didn't fade, I felt her arms tighten around my neck as she attempted to take a step closer towards me before her legs buckled underneath her, leaving me to hold her upright as she panted on my shoulder and winced from the the pain.

"It's okay." I reassured her, holding her up before I felt a sob break from her chest whilst her face pressing into my neck.

"I never get sick." she whispered as I gritted my teeth at the thought of Lauren leaving my wife like this.

"We're going to get you in the bath, and then I'm going to wring Lauren's fucking neck - okay?" I explained, kissing her softly as her lips parted to grant me entrance, before I picked her up wedding style.

"Oh god, this is a new low even for me." she tried to protest as I carried her through the corridor and towards the bathroom.

"If you have any other ideas I'd be glad to hear them?" I joked as I stepped over the threshold of the bathroom, closer to the cool pool of water, gently lowering her in until a sigh of relief reached my ears from the cool water lapping against her hot skin.

"If you ever tell anyone that just happened, I'll kick your ass." she joked as her head flopped back against the bath pillow.

"Sure thing Valkulips, I just need to grab some towels okay?" I excused myself as I stalked back into the bedroom towards the phone.

. . . . . . . .

'_You're through to the answer phone of Dr Lauren Lewis, please leave your name, number and a brief message and I will get back to you at my earliest convenience. Thank you._'

"Bo Dennis - 666, Tamsin is burning up and she's really sick - you better get your boney ass over here before I have to hunt you down, and believe me Lauren, I will." I growled into the receiver before slamming it back down. I gave myself a moment to gather myself before grabbing the fluffy towels from the bed, I heard heeled footsteps race up the stairs, knowing exactly who the high heels belonged to before their owner so much as opened their mouth to announce themselves.

"Bo, I just got your text - what the Fae happened?" Kenzi tried to catch her breath as I handed her my cell phone.

"Tamsin is really sick Kenz, I need you to get Dyson over here and pack a hospital bag, I'm taking T in if her fever doesn't break soon." I explained through hushed-tone panic, aware that Tamsin was probably eavesdropping with her astute hearing.

"Dude are you crazy? It's a snow storm outside! I'm not sure how I even made it here without crashing." Kenzi added with a whisper.

"We'll figure something out, just get Dyson here." I reaffirmed, pulling her in for a hug that was more for my benefit than hers. "Thanks for getting her Kenz, I knew I could count on you." I quietly admitted as her arms held me equally tight.

"I'll always have your back, I'll worry about Dyson you just take care of T, now you go get her tiger!" she added, loosening her grip.

. . . . . . .

"What do you mean Kenzi and Dyson are here?" Tamsin growled through half opened eyes as I climbed into the tub behind her, rubbing her shoulders as I noted how hot and sticky she still was.

"I needed the extra man power, there is a storm outside and if I need to suddenly rush you to the hospital I'd sooner have a werewolf convoy protecting you and pop-pop's." I whispered against the skin of her neck as she leaned back into my chest.

I rinsed the cloth in my hand and pressed it against her warm body, relishing the gentle sigh that left her lips from the contact of the cool cloth, until the loud knock on the door interrupted our reverie.

"_What a great idea inviting everyone over_." Tamsin growled, shooting me a death glare as I rolled my eyes.

"Come in." I shouted, covering Tamsin's chest and pulling her tighter against me.

"Woah!" Kenzi boomed as she strolled in and caught us in the clinch, quickly averting her eyes. "Mama Valkyrie is on the phone and she is pissed." she explained, holding out the phone towards us as I bit my tongue.

"_Shit._" I quietly sighed as I shifted out of the bath and wrapped a towel around myself, taking the phone from Kenzi.

"Let me speak to Acacia, I'll calm her down." Tamsin feverishly offered as I hushed her with a kiss.

"The only thing you'll do is send your mom into overdrive and then we'll have Kenzi, Dyson, Trick AND your mother, father and Sif downstairs." I explained as she pondered for a moment, before quickly nodding her head in signal that I should take care of this one.

"_You invited us over remember._" Kenzi quietly huffed as I lifted the phone to my ear.

"Acacia! Is everything okay?" I announced, eager to try and maintain my calm facade.

"I could ask you the same question _Succubus_."

"What do you mean? Everything is fine?" I quickly retorted.

"It's 7.45pm - you said Tamsin would call before Sif's bedtime, Tamsin _never_ misses Sif's bedtime." she growled, already aware that something was indeed wrong.

"Tamsin's burning a little bit of a fever, she's in the bath right now but as soon as we've figured out what to do - I'll make sure you're the first Fae who knows." I offered, waiting for her to go beserk that I didn't call sooner.

But it didn't come, instead her voice changed into one that I'd never heard her use before - it was unsure and quiet, until it occurred to me that Acacia was _scared_. "Bo, Valkyrie's don't get sick - call Lauren _right now_." she almost pleaded.

"I called Lauren, Lauren said we have to try and break her fever and if that doesn't work call her back later." I repeated what the blonde doctor had told me, they could well be the very last words she ever has the chance to speak to me after I get my hands on her.

"No, no, no." Acacia repeated, her voice lowering slightly. "Valkyrie's **do not** get sick, I'm coming over right now." she announced as I heard her move through the kitchen looking for her truck keys.

"Bo, give me the phone." Tamsin sighed as I finally relented and passed her over.

. . . . .

"Mama, it's me. I'm okay, I promise." I tried my hardest to sound normal as I spoke into the phone, aware that my cracking voice and stuffy nose probably gave me away.

"Bullshit Tamsin!" Acacia shouted loud enough for Bo and Kenzi to hear, her abrupt shout causing them to jump as I barely flinched.

"Okay, you got me - I'm burning a fever, I feel as if I'm about to throw up everything I've ever ate, I can barely move, every fiber of my being aches right now and to top it off, you're threatening to come over - how the hell is that supposed to make me feel better?" I growled down the phone, speaking with the kind of language only me and my mother could appreciate whilst Bo pressed a cold flannel to the back of my neck.

"Valkyries do not get sick Tamsin!" I heard Acacia begin to panic, before I heard cupboard doors slamming in the background.

"I know Mama - but remember when Bo was pregnant? How she got some of my power and strength from the bond? Maybe this is like that, except instead of her succublasting powers - I got her cooties instead." I tried to joke but no one laughed, including Kenzi or Bo.

"Fine! You're not going to let me come over? I'm calling Trick instead." Acacia threatened me as I rolled my eyes and mouthed to Bo not to let her grandpa in.

"Trick is a very short man, good luck if he can reach the knocker on the front door." I fired back as Acacia finally let out a brief laugh.

"You know he'll crawl through the catflap if it means keeping you safe." she acquiesced.

"I know Mama, it's going to be okay I promise - tell Sif how much I love her and that I'll call her first thing tomorrow. I need to go, I've got a pilates class I'm late for." I joked, knowing I was pushing it with how much dry humour Acacia could take in one night.

"I love you but I'm still calling Trick." she finished, hanging up the phone before I could protest.

"_Shit_." I announced, handing Bo the phone back.

. . . . . . .

"You better call your grandpa right now and tell him not to come over." Tamsin growled at me as Kenzi watched on quietly from the toilet seat.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I screwed my face in uncertainty.

"I managed to talk Acacia down, but she's calling Trick - I don't want everyone here Bo, fix it." she pleaded, her big green eyes softening as I leaned over to kiss her.

"I'll take care of it when he calls, Trick won't come in the snowstorm unless it's life or death." I offered. "I'm going to get you some more ice and if your fever hasn't broke - we're going to the hospital." I explained, pushing the sticky blonde hair away from her forehead.

"Great, does that mean I can tear Lauren's face off myself?" she growled as I rubbed her tummy, settling her down.

"Well, if you were to put the Valkyrie on her when I leave the room to call your mom - I think that would be more diplomatic," I smirked "do you want Kenzi to pick out some fresh clothes?" I offered.

"What to wear Tam-Tam, yoga pants or more yoga pants?" Kenzi joked.

"Have you seen how great her ass looks in yoga pants?" I quickly interrupted to stick up for her, much to Tamsin's amusement as a smirk broke out on her pale lips.

. . . . . .

"I'm not going back to bed, I want to be downstairs - at least then I don't have to worry about Woof Woof here peeing inside the house." Tamsin joked between painful coughs as I helped her climb into fresh clothes.

"Wow, your humour knows no bounds does it?" Dyson shot back as he stood at the door frame, his eyes fixed firmly to the floor whilst Tamsin's weight rested across my shoulders, helping to keep her upright. "The snowstorm should pass soon, the storm must have taken some of the phone lines down - I can't get through to The Dal." Dyson continued to explain as Tamsin's legs wobbled underneath her weight, forcing her to grab ahold of the sink as she breathed in a gasp for breath.

Until a pair of burly arms shot out to help keep her standing. "You okay partner?" Dyson added as Tamsin winced a little.

"I'm great, I'm thinking about doing some fucking bikram yoga now that you mention it." Tamsin sniffed, until her face practically turned a shade of green and the rumble in her gut rang out through the bathroom. "I don- I don't feel so great." Tamsin stuttered before her body lunged over the toilet bowl and retches filled the air.

"Dyson, go to the Dal right now and get Trick. Tell Kenzi to keep calling Lauren until she answers, something is definitely wrong." I finally admitted, gently stroking Tamsin's back as the Wolf in front of me nodded his head and practically flew downstairs.

"Will the baby be okay?" Tamsin whispered to me, her eyes laced with the kind of fear I'd only ever seen once before. '_I am never going back to that place again._' I thought to myself as I kneeled over Tamsin's frame and helped her stand up.

"The baby is going to be fine and so are you, Valkucooties." I tried to lighten the mood, pulling her arm over my shoulders as I resorted to carrying her again.

"I'm not an invalid you know." she quietly muttered as I carried her downstairs.

"I know, I just really like taking care of you." I confessed, cradling her gently as each step down the stairs made her face turn a deeper shade of pale as it dawned on me she was going to throw up again.

. . . . . . . . .

'_You're through to the answer phone of Dr Lauren Lewis, please leave your name, number and a brief message and I will get back to you at my earliest convenience. Thank you._'

"Lauren, I swear to god - you better be dead or in a coma right now, she's getting worse and if anything happens to her or the baby, I will fucking kill you, slowly and painfu-" before I could finish illustrating how angry I was Kenzi snatched the phone from my hand and ended the call, throwing it on the kitchen counter as she grabbed my arms and stared into my eyes, making sure Dark Bo wasn't about to come to the surface.

"Bo, I know you're upset - but Tamsin needs you - let me handle Lauren, Dyson should be back soon with Trick." she reassured me, pulling me into a hug as I let my head rest on her shoulder for a lingering moment, praying that I'd wake up from this nightmare.

"If something happens to the baby, she'll never come back Kenzi - I'll lose her forever." I tried to stifle a sob as I remembered waiting and waiting last time for the Tamsin I knew to come back from the depths her grief held her in.

"Don't talk like that, she's going to be fine and so is pop-pop's, I think the colour is coming back into her cheeks so maybe we're out of the worst of it?" Kenzi tried to calm me as I nodded along, praying she was right.

. . . . . . . .

"Hey you, how are you feeling?" I offered, sitting on the sofa where she laid curled up with the blanket over her, her hands gently guarding the bump of her stomach.

"I feel fine." she lied, forcing a smile on her face as if she was trying to fool me.

"We've been married for five years, I know when you're lying Tamsin…" I furrowed my brow, lying beside her frame as her big green orbs stared back at mine.

"I'm just scared." she sighed, her eyes watering as I pulled her in close.

"It's going to be okay, I promise - do you want lay down in bed for a while?" I offered as she used my shoulders to pull herself up, before I knelt down and planted a kiss on the side of her stomach.

"Pop-pop, stop making Mama sick okay?" I whispered, grazing the skin with my fingertips as a familiar smirk crept up her face.

"Oh, it's nothing Dyson hasn't made Mama feel before." she shot back.

"Dyson was right, your sense of humour really does know no bounds." I smiled, leaning up to kiss her forehead as I put a cold compress back on her neck.

"Still got it, never lost it." she smirked, before a cough broke free from her chest.

I lifted her arm over my shoulder as we took gentle and small steps towards the stairs, before she stopped - short of breath.

"T- are you okay?" I asked, rubbing the small of her back.

"Pop-pop's is kicking like crazy tonight, I feel like I've got a cirque de soleil performer in my uterus." she winced as I pressed my hand gently to her bump.

"Sorry, am I hurting you?" I cautiously asked as I whipped my hand away.

"No, it just feels like my stomach is a pressure cooker right now." she explained, before we could walk closer towards the stairs the entire house was plunged into pitch black darkness.

"Kenz!" I shouted, tightening my grip around Tamsin's waist as we stood in the dark, waiting for our eyes to adjust.

"Snowstorm knocked the power out!" the smaller girl shouted back to me through the kitchen. "Where is your generator? Handy-woman Kenz will have this fixed in no time." she joked as I heard her open and close draws in the kitchen looking for a flashlight.

"Flashlights are in the cupboard under the sink, I forgot to put diesel in the generator - we'll have to use candles." I admitted, feeling Tamsin's jaw clench against my skin.

"You _what_?" she wrinkled her nose.

"Would now be a good time for '_sorry_'?" I asked guiltily.

"Remind me never to send my wife to do my bidding." she complained. "Do we even have enough C-**ah**." she whimpered, the gasp from her lungs finishing her sentence as I felt her body double over.

"T-Tamsin? What's happening? Talk to me." I coaxed her, my arm holding her body up tightly around her waist as I screamed for Kenzi.

"Bo…" she whimpered, as I listened closely enough to hear a dribble of water hitting the wood.

"Please tell me you just wet yourself." I gasped, the air leaving my lungs as I suddenly forgot how to breathe.

Before I remembered how to use words again, strobes of light reached us from the kitchen as Kenzi ran with flashlights and tealight candles, lighting them and dotting them across the dining room table and surfaces, until the brightness from her torch revealed the situation - literally.

"Bo… please tell me that Tamsin peed herself?" she quietly asked, shining the torch to the puddle between the blonde's legs as I felt my wife tremble, words failing to leave her lips which were trying so desperately to form a sentence.

Until the words struck me down and made my blood run cold, the ones I had prayed not to hear.

"No Bo, this can't be happening… Pop-pop's is too little, we still have a month to go." she pleaded, her arms clinging to my neck as I threw caution to the wind and picked her up - placing her down gently on the sofa whilst Kenzi stood in shock.

"W-what do we do Bo? What should I do?" Tamsin asked, her big green eyes meeting mine through the dull light the burning candles provided.

"You're going to sit tight, I'm going to get you your bag and then we're going to the hospital." I promised, kissing her knuckles as I stumbled over my own words.

"Bo you stay here with Tamsin, I'll go get her bag ready." Kenzi offered, heading upstairs as I searched for my phone to call Lauren.

"Bo we need to take Tamsin to the hospital right now, the fever and the sickness? We looked it up - she's going into labour..." Dyson hurriedly explained as him and Trick burst through the front door, carrying old books with them.

"Oh gee, if only you had told us that -I don't know- maybe five minutes ago!" Tamsin shouted from her curled up position on the sofa before her voice betrayed her, wavering until her eyes met mine and we shared a silent moment. "Bo I'm really scared." she quietly sobbed as the two men busied themselves with helping Kenzi get everything together, giving us some privacy.

"It's going to be okay, I promise - everything is going to be fine. I won't lose you again." I assured her, sitting on the edge of the sofa as my fingertips grazed the large bump, feeling the baby inside kick. "I love you, you've always protected me - now it's time for me to protect you." I promised, kissing the curve of her stomach.

"I don't think I can do this Bo, I can't come back from the hospital without a baby again." she bit back a sob that threatened to rack her body as her lungs hyperventilated for a breath her body wouldn't accept.

"I've got you, I'll always have you." I reassured her, gently stroking the skin of her cheek as my chi melded with hers, mellowing the fear and panic until her eyes grew thick and heavy.

"What do you need me to do?" Dyson spoke up as I held Tamsin's hand, keeping my eyes focused on her as my chi kept her in a calm trance.

"I need you to carry her to the car and promise me you won't let a damn thing happen to her." I warned, shifting my eyes to stare at him as he nodded and stepped closer.

"Tamsin is family too, I'll never let anything happen to any of you." he promised, leaning down to take a look at her as she opened her eyes - the green orbs focusing on him slightly as my chi kept her a little disorientated. "Hey Tam, you ready to go partner?" he asked gently, his burly arms lifting her off the sofa as my chi left a cloud of hazy lust over her.

"You're really cute." she slurred, squinting her eyes as she touched his beard.

"Thanks, you're pretty handsome yourself." he joked back, walking towards the car.

"Guys, I'm right here." I growled at Dyson, knowing I wasn't really in a position to be jealous or angry right now.

. . . . . . . . .

"Where is Dr Lewis? I don't give a good god damn if the Ash himself sent you - I want to see Lauren." I growled towards the nurse, standing from my chair as Tamsin lay delirious in bed from another contraction.

"Dr Lewis is coming right away, she was held up due to the snowstorm." the nurse excused my ex, handing me yet more forms to sign before she stepped closer towards my wife. "Tamsin, can you give me an idea of how bad the pain is right now on a scale of one to ten?" the petite woman asked my wife.

"A solid three." Tamsin gritted her teeth, her eyes screwed shut as she breathed through her nose.

"Which means it's a twelve." Kenzi piped up. "If she say's she's in pain - times it by four and that's how much pain she's really in."

"Tamsin I can't give you any pain relief until Dr Lewis gets here-" before the nurse could finish her sentence, Tamsin grabbed her by the lapel and pulled her close - her face contorting into it's natural appearance as her eyes grew shallow and her cheekbones more prominent.

"That's not a good idea, your orders were to get me the strongest painkiller in your arsenal." Tamsin growled, releasing the younger woman as she stumbled out of the room disorientated.

"I thought it was only a 'solid three'?" I asked, kissing her temple.

"_You should know by now that my daughter can be a terrible liar sometimes._" Acacia spoke up as she entered through the door, placing down a weekend bag as she stared at us with intent. "What happened to you being okay?" she growled.

"Acacia now isn't the time for family arguments." Trick interjected, pulling an empty seat out as he gestured for Acacia to join them.

"Why is everyone here? Don't you people have better things to do?" Acacia addressed the room.

"They're here incase Dark Bo turns on Lauren." I peeped up, aware that it was a definite possibility given how angry and protective I am over Tamsin.

"If what Trick has told me is true, which I'm in no doubt it is - Lauren just fucked with the wrong Grancacia." Acacia growled, taking her seat next to Trick before pulling out a flick knife to sharpen.

"You can't kill her Mom." Tamsin spoke up, gritting her teeth as another contraction hit.

"Oh really? Can't I? What would you do if this was you and Sif?" Acacia fired back.

"Point taken." Tamsin conceded.

. . . . . . . .

"I am so, _so_ sorry." the voice announced as Lauren cautiously entered the room, all of our eyes burning into her before a flick knife flew millimetres away from her face and landed in the cork board adjacent to her figure.

"Take that as a warning, I don't miss twice." Acacia coldly answered, whilst Lauren's cheeks burned red.

"Bo, I'm so sorry - I had no idea-" she tried to apologise before the rage began to pour out of me, my eyes turned blue and my feet took steps closer towards her without my consent as I shook with anger.

"You're sorry? Our baby is coming early and it's your fault - so how about instead of apologies, you promise that everything is going to be okay?" I growled, tilting my head as I analysed each pulse beneath her skin.

"You know it would be unethical for me to do that..." she stuttered, handing me more papers to sign.

"Unethical like leaving my pregnant wife without medical attention whilst she was delirious and burning a fever, so you could fuck your new piece?" I snarled, lunging for her as I felt Dark Bo start to come to the surface - until Dyson's burly arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back, pressing me against the wall.

"Bo - if you attack her, they will throw us all out and Tamsin will be stuck in the Dark Fae medical centre and no one will be allowed to go with her except Acacia - don't do this to her." he pleaded. "We can worry about it tomorrow, let's just take care of Tamsin tonight - okay?" he offered as I slowly nodded my head.

"Well now Bo has gotten that out of her system, you're all going to have to wait in the waiting room - it's strictly immediate family." Lauren explained, lowering her eyes to the floor as Acacia, Trick, Kenzi and Dyson made an exit.

"Now that all of this has been dealt with, let's see how far you're dilated." Lauren huffed, sitting on the stool at the bottom of the bed whilst Tamsin spread her legs without an ounce of shame.

"I don't normally do this on a first date Dr Lewis." she joked with famous dry wit as I wiped the sheen of sweat from her brow. "But don't for a second think this has been 'dealt' with."

. . . . . . . .

"Tamsin, a few more pushes and you'll be there - you're so close!" Lauren shouted from the bottom of the table as the valkyrie squeezed my hand hard enough to pop a few knuckles out of place.

"Still a solid three babe?" I enquired, curious to see if she'd admit to the pain as she desperately stifled the screams that came with each push.

"Next time, it's your turn." she grunted, before a wave of pain crashed over her - the green orbs staring at me quickly screwing shut as she bit her lip.

"Tamsin I love you so much." I whispered next to her ear, squeezing her hand as the newest edition to our family was nearly ready to enter the world. "I can't wait to see you be a new mama again." I smiled, pushing the hair out of her face as I pushed some chi into her to alleviate the bone crushing pain I knew she was playing down.

"Tamsin I can see the head - you're almost there." Lauren called up again as I squeezed my wife's hand.

"Bo, I'm scared - she's too little, she's not ready." her voice cracked.

"I know it's scary, but I am here and over my dead body is anything happening to either of you." I promised, grazing my thumb over her cheek.

"Okay." she quietly nodded, before her face screwed shut again - blocking out the pain as another contraction ripped through her body, before a blood curdling scream like I've never heard before left her lungs - causing me to nearly jump out of the chair as my blood ran cold.

"One more push!" Lauren called again as the monitors attached to Tamsin grew crazy.

"You can do this T, one more push and we get our baby." I tearily smiled, kissing her knuckles as another pained scream left her lungs, turning my legs to jelly.

Until a new scream joined the noise of the room, the tiny pinched wail of our newborn.

"You did it!" I sobbed, practically throwing myself forward to kiss her as she breathed relieved sighs.

"Congratulations Mommies, she's a bouncing baby girl!" Lauren grinned, placing the tiny little pink baby on Tamsin's chest as my sight blurred from all the tears.

"She's so little." Tamsin cried, rocking the baby in her arms as I leaned over to take a closer look, noting the dark brown hair that fell over her head and the tiny little fingernails reaching out as she furiously cried. "Hi baby, you had us scared there for a while." Tamsin laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Do you think Sif is going to be mad that Pop-pop's is a girl?" I joked, pulling Tamsin closer towards my body as I lay on the bed at her side.

"I think Sif is going to fall in love with her the minute they meet." Tamsin smiled, rocking the baby who now sat quietly content on her chest.

A few minutes had passed before Lauren had entered the room again with the incubator she was pushing. "Just a precaution to make sure Baby Dennis is nice and warm for the night." Lauren reassured us, immediately reading Tamsin's look of concern.

"How are you feeling now T?" I asked, noticing the fever still hadn't broke.

"It doesn't matter right now, we have this little Pop-pop to worry about." she smiled, tilting her face to gently cough as my brow furrowed with concern, noticing how exhausted and lazy her eyes were growing as they began to roll in the back of her head.

"Lauren, something's wrong." I stuttered, watching in slow motion as Tamsin's facial muscles grew slack and her head flopped to the side. "Tamsin, wake up!" I shouted, shoving her shoulder with enough force to wake up to dead as Lauren lifted the baby off of her chest and placed her in the incubator, pulling paper from one of the machine's as her face grew in concern.

"Page a code blue." Lauren ordered the nurse who peaked her head in the door.

"Lauren what is happening?" I cried, cradling Tamsin's slack head in my arms before I pulled away the blanket from her body. The colour drained from my face as I stared at the white sheet beneath her, suddenly tinted with an unmistakable pool of red between her thighs. "No, no, no." I sobbed, shaking Tamsin harder as Dyson entered the room at a running pace. "Don't die, please don't die - our baby doesn't even have a name yet Tamsin!" I begged and pleaded, suddenly noticing how pale her skin was, the lack of expression on her face breaking my heart even more.

"Dyson she needs to go." Lauren ordered the wolf at the door as she snapped on her gloves and doctors piled into the room - I refused to release my hold on Tamsin, pushing chi into her lips that her body wouldn't accept.

"You did this Lauren! You promised me she'd be okay!" I screamed through a gut wrenching sob as Dyson picked me up off the bed, holding me to his chest as he carried me out of the room. "Save her!" I screamed, begging Lauren and every far away god, in every far away world to allow my newborn daughter to know her wonderful, strong and kind mother, to hear every bedtime story crafted from the legends of previous lives in distant, long past times her mother's soul had wandered through. To know the woman who lived a thousand lives and died a thousand deaths just so she could raise her beloved daughters.

"It's going to be okay, it'll be okay." Dyson whispered to my temple as gut wrenching sobs left my chest.

And then a pair of eyes landed on my own, a pair of eyes that knew what was wrong as the tragic ending of the most _beautiful_ story ever told passed between us on the flutter of an eyelid.

"No, no- not Tamsin." Acacia begged, her hard and war weathered eyes softening as she fell back into her chair. "I can't lose them both, it's not right." she whispered quietly, her heart fracturing into a million pieces as everyone else in the room suddenly became aware of the situation.

. . . . . . . . . .

"Mommy where's Mama?" Sif asked as Acacia held her hand through the waiting room, tiredly rubbing her eyes as Dyson held me close to his chest whilst I fought back a sob.

"Mama is in bed sleeping." I smiled, kissing her forehead as I pulled her close to my chest.

"Mama is always sleeping, can we go wake her up now?" she asked with big green eyes that belonged to her mother.

"We need to go and say goodnight to Mama baby." I gently weeped, as Kenzi left the room in a flood of tears. Unable to keep it together.

"Why do we need to say goodnight Mommy?" Sif asked with perplexion, looking towards her grandma for reassurance.

"...because sometimes when grown ups go to sleep, they don't wake up again." Acacia gently explained, stepping closer towards us - ready to swoop in as I tried my hardest not to crack.

"No Grancacia!" Sif growled, wrinkling her nose just like Tamsin. "I didn't get to tell Mama about the fish I caught! Mommy said I could tell Mama about the fish I caught!" she repeated adamantly until I finally broke and a floodgate of tears opened.

"You have a new baby sister, do you want to meet her?" Acacia quickly jumped in, trying her hardest to distract Sif from the grief around her as she desperately tried to hide that she was mourning the second loss of a child too.

"I don't want a little sister! I want my Mama!" she screamed, stomping her feet as I pulled her in for a hug.

"I want Mama too baby, and even though she can't tell us how much she loves us back - she can hear us, so we're going to tell Mama about all the fish you caught and then we can say goodnight." I nodded, trying to placate our four year old as her own eyes watered. "I think Mama would like that? Don't you?" I encouraged her.

"Can I see Pop-pop's first?" Sif asked with uncertainty as I nodded my head, unable to form sentences. Acacia picked her up and put her on her hip.

"I don't want to say goodnight to Mama either, but she's been awake for a very, very long time." Acacia tried to gently explain.

"But you've been awake longer Grancacia, you're Mama's Mama." Sif reasoned as I watched Acacia's heart splinter into a thousand pieces all over again.

"I know baby." she tearily smiled. "Sometimes things don't make sense, and they hurt and make us sad but it's no one's fault. Okay?" Acacia nodded as she carried her towards Pop-pop's room.

"Trick…" I whispered as my grandfather looked at me with sad eyes that told me he already knew what I was going to ask. "the Valkyrie life cycles... could she be reborn?" I asked, hope filled in my eyes.

"Valkyrie's are only reborn when they die a proud death, Tamsin's body was weakened by the pregnancy and her organs just gave up Bo… the only thing keeping her alive are the machines, when they're turned off - she'll move onto the next plane." Trick's lip trembled as a rogue tear fell from his eye.

"You're the Blood King!" I shouted before Dyson looked around to make sure no one else heard it. "You can change this." I lowered my voice. "I'm asking you as the grandfather to Tamsin's children to save her, write it into blood law." I glared, knowing what his answer would be.

"Isabeau, you know if I could save her I would have done it by now - if I spill my blood, the repercussions will be bigger than anything we can imagine." he frowned.

"I don't care! Save her!" I sobbed, leaning over to try to gasp in a breath my lungs wouldn't accept.

"Guys, we're ready for you." Lauren motioned for us to enter Tamsin's room, her eyes and cheeks stained red as it became obviously apparent she'd been sobbing too.

"I will never, ever forgive you for this." I spat, stalking past her towards Tamsin's pale figure.

. . . . . . . . .

"Mama, wake up." Sif whispered, nudging her cheek as Tamsin didn't budge. "Please Mama." she whispered again, before nestling up on her chest as Tamsin laid still, the only sound coming from the machines.

"I- I'm sorry, I can't do this." Acacia finally broke down, wiping tears away for possibly the first time in her life as we watched Tamsin's pale body lay lifeless whilst Sif sat guarding her.

"We love you so, so much Tamsin." I whispered, stroking her blonde hair as the feverish forehead had turned cold and clammy, I gently placed the sleeping baby on her chest next to Sif as our girls snuggled up to their mama.

"Sif tell Mama what you did at Grancacia's house?" I urged her.

"We went fishing Mama, and Pappy said I could use your fishing pole and we caught lots of fish and one of them was rainbow coloured and I drew a picture of it for you." she grinned as I silently begged Tamsin to wake up, to take a gasp of air, to find a way to come back to us - but the room stayed eerily silent except for the quiet tick of the machine.

"Mama if you don't wake up, I'll have no-one to play birdies with." Sif trailed off into a whisper, nudging Tamsin's face with her own as she revealed her valkyrie in front of company for the first time.

"Mommy, when will she wake up?" Sif turned to me with watering eyes as I whispered a barely audible '_She won't._'

"...Did I ever tell you the story about when me and your mama met?" Dyson quietly interjected, catching Sif's attention as she nestled back into Tamsin's limp side and focused her gaze on the dark haired man facing her.

"No, what happened Uncle Dyson?" she inquisitively enquired.

"Your mama beat me up!" he laughed, causing her to giggle too as I smiled at the memory. "Your mama was the best police officer I ever met, she kicked all the bad guys butts." he smiled kindly, squeezing Tamsin's hand.

"When Mommy and Mama got married, Mama was late because she was fighting a dragon…" I explained, laughing as I remembered her bursting into the hall's of Valhalla five minutes late with a split lip after arresting a Dark shifter.

"Did she win Mama?" Sif giggled.

"Your mama always won." Acacia joined in, a teary smile decorating her face.

"When Mama was little just like you, she beat up **all** of the boys." Acacia explained, "and a long, long time ago, your pappy and I got a call from the school and Mama had been suspended for a week because she beat up _three_ of the teachers!" Acacia laughed, wiping a rogue tear from her eye.

"Why did she do that Grancacia?" Sif asked puzzled.

"...Because she was sticking up for her little sister." Acacia added, pausing as the memory ate away at what was left of her cold demeanor as rays of humanity shone from her like sunbeams and she broke into a whimper.

"I'm going to protect Pop-pop's just like Mama protected her sister." Sif nodded, leaning over to kiss the sleeping baby nuzzled into Tamsin's chest on the head.

"It's time Bo." Lauren whispered from the door.

"Just give us a little more time, just five more minutes." I begged, tears beginning to spring from my eyes as Trick pulled me into his chest.

"We have to say goodnight." Trick quietly challenged, aware that I'd stay here forever if given the choice.

"Acacia, wake her up." I commanded, focusing on her as her eyes shot back up at me incredulously.

"Do you really think that's appropriate?" she almost shouted, only taming her voice for Sif's benefit.

"It's what Tamsin would want, she'd want to be able to say goodbye to her children." I dug my heels in.

"You have no idea what you're asking me to do!" Acacia fired back. "Every neuron in her brain will burn, do you really want Sif's last memories of her mother be her screaming in agony?" Acacia lowered her voice.

"Just wake her up long enough for her to say goodbye, that's all I'm asking." I pleaded. "She never got to name her daughter, let her say goodbye Acacia - you know it's what she would of wanted."

"I would never be able to forgive myself Bo, every fibre of her being would shrivel in agony until every last iota of who and what Tamsin was burns away." she quietly explained, her face turning into a softer expression as she began to consider it.

"Acacia, your grandchildren will never forgive you if you don't." I countered.

Acacia nodded her head and conceded, stepping closer towards her daughter as she tilted her head - her face changing into it's natural valkyrie appearance as her gaze awoke something in Tamsin, first a twitch of the hand and then the flutter of an eyelid.

"Mama! You're awake!" Sif bounced with joy, peppering Tamsin's face with kisses as tears dripped down from mine.

"I don't have long do I?" Tamsin winced, staring at her mother.

"I will keep you awake for as long as I can Tam." Acacia nodded, leaning down to kiss her daughter on the head.

"Hey little bug." Tamsin tearily smiled, pulling Sif into a tight embrace with one arm as she cradled our baby with the other. "Hello you." she smiled adoringly down to the tiny sleeping newborn in the crook of her arm. "I am so, so sorry." she whimpered, her gaze flickering towards me as I pressed the deepest kiss against her lips.

"Tamsin I can't live without you." I sobbed.

"Bo, we have children together - a little piece of me is always in them." she tried to placate me, before the first wave of agony took over her mind and she screamed in pain - waking the baby on her chest as Dyson gently plucked her away and rocked her in the corner.

"Why is Mama crying?" Sif started to whimper, nestling into Tamsin's shoulder. "It'll be okay Mama, you're awake now." Sif justified, kissing Tamsin's cheek.

"Mama has to go back to sleep, but I couldn't say goodnight without saying I love you first." she tearily smiled. "Sif, I-" before the words left her lips another gut wrenching cry wracked her body, her head slamming against the pillow as the veins in her neck strained against the skin.

"Make it stop!" Sif whimpered, her little arms wrapping around Tamsin as if she could absorb all the pain in the world - and for a split second,_ she did_.

"**Don't**." Tamsin stared at Acacia as her mother prepared to let her slip away, silently begging for more time - even if it did come at the cost of her own agony.

"Sif I love you so much, it's time to say goodnight." Tamsin whispered, pulling her in for a hug as the green orbs drifted up to me. "Will you still love me in the morning?" Tamsin tearily asked me, echoing the words that precluded her proposal.

"Every morning until the sun doesn't rise again." I replied, echoing my reply as her hand reached out to mine - but before her skin could graze against my own, her body contorted into an unnatural shape. "Give me more time." she growled, gritting her teeth as her eyes remained clenched.

'_Mother you have failed, but where you have failed I shall succeed._" a Dark voice boomed throughout the room as Sif sat upright, facing us all with her valkyrie face in full glory - except something was different, where sullen dark shades across her eyes should be - a brilliant shade of light blue shone out.

"_I am born from wings that grace blessed air and the blood of unstoppable kings, I and I alone shall choose who lives and dies_." she announced as we all stared in shock and awe, before she began to pull the life essence from every person in the room, stripping us all of our fire, the chi converged into one shining beam as she breathed it in, before leaning over Tamsin and forcing the chi into her body, a golden aura thickly coating Tamsin's skin as the machine's attached to her chest started to pick back up wildly.

"I love you too Mama." Sif quietly whispered, before passing out on Tamsin's chest.

"Bo! Do something!" Tamsin panicked as I sat dumbfounded at what just happened - slightly delirious from the all chi I lost, Tamsin rocked our daughter in her arms as she lay limp like her mother did moments before. "Give her the chi back! Save her!" Tamsin shouted, smoothing Sif's long blonde locks down her head. "It's okay baby, Mama's got you now." she whispered, holding Sif close to her chest before Lauren's stethoscope snaked its way over Sif's tiny body as adrenalin finally took over and I tried to push a stream of chi into her tiny lungs that her body just wouldn't accept.

"Don't worry, she's just fainted." Lauren explained. "Whatever it was that just came to the surface, it knocked it out of her - that's all, she just needs to sleep it off." Lauren assured us, before her stethoscope turned on Tamsin - listening for a heartbeat that was now healthy.

"I have never seen anything like this before." Lauren stared dumbfounded.

"You had us scared there for minute…" Dyson smiled, pulling Tamsin in for a hug.

"Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again." Acacia laughed, joining the hug before Tamsin laid back down with Sif curled up on her chest.

"Mom have you been crying?" Tamsin asked inquisitively, noting the redness of Acacia's cheeks and eyes.

"Oh this? No." Acacia brushed off. "I tried this new AVON tester cream in the waiting room - I must of had an allergic reaction." she deadpanned, sniffing away any remnants of emotion.

"I love you so much." I whispered, pressing my forehead against Tamsin's as Sif snored away blissfully unaware pressed to Tamsin's side.

"I love you too." she smiled, leaning her face in for a kiss. "...but next time, you're carrying the baby." she laughed, noting the lack of laughter at her joke. "Too soon?" she surveyed the room.

"Speaking of babies, there's someone here who wants to meet their Mama." Dyson prompted as he stepped closer with the crying baby.

"There's my little girl." Tamsin's eyes watered with pride as she reached out to hold our daughter. "She's so little Bo." she cried with pride.

"But she's such a fighter, just like you." I grinned, letting my finger trace over the dark brown crown of her as we stared at the little person with adoration.

"It's okay little dude, Mama's here now - and I promise, I'm _never_ going to leave you again." she assured, rocking the newborn against her chest with one arm as cries turned to whimpers, which then turned to gentle snores whilst Sif lay sleeping curled up underneath the other arm.

"And I'm never, ever going to leave you like that again either." Tamsin looked up at me with honest eyes.

"She still needs a name…" I acknowledged, instantly falling in love with the newborn babygirl the same way I did with Sif.

"Gee, let's leave some of the excitement for tomorrow don't you think guys?" Kenzi suggested.

"Pop-pop's can stay for another night before we give her a real name, don't you think?" Tamsin smirked.

"...What about Poppy?" Trick suggested, the smile rising to decorate his cheeks as he stared at us will a happy glint in his eye.

"Oh god no." me and Tamsin both chorused in unison.


End file.
